Small-scale Waste Heat Recovery through incineration – a brief review

Abstract

This paper brings a brief discussion about small-scale waste to energy units, specifically using incineration. Solid waste treatment is an important issue around the world. Incineration has been applied successfully in developed countries. In the south hemisphere landfills and dumps are still predominant. This study aims to show that there is a lack of small-scale waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration plants and one of the reasons is associated with the high cost of the installations. The review performed showed that Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) has been applied in small-scale plants as a tentative to reduce costs related to infrastructure required for electrical energy production. The air pollution control process also has a huge impact on this kind of installation. The lack of data and information about the operation of these plants turn difficult the study. Public policies to encourage small-scale waste energy recovery are required to improve these techniques, especially in developing countries.