Energy Recovery from Solid Waste for Nazareth/Adama City, Ethiopia

Abstract

Major problems facing modern society include the provision of energy with the minimum generation of pollution, and the environmentally friendly disposal of waste. This work was part of a major study that examined the policy and technology implications of alternatives for managing the municipal solid wastes (MSW) of Adama (Nazareth) City (Town). Consequently, to accomplish the objectives both primary and secondary data sources applied for the study. The primary data were collected via questionnaires, interview, and field observations. Whereas the secondary data were extracted from different published and unpublished materials. At this time, of the 71700 metric tons of MSW collected by the town annually are land filled. Despite the heterogeneity of organic materials in MSW, the composite molecular structure can be approximated by the organic compound C6H10O4. A formula was derived that allows the prediction of the heating value of MSW as a function of moisture content and compares well with experimentally derived values. The performance of a leading Waste-to-Energy plant that utilizes suspension firing of shredded MSW, processes one 71700 metric tons of MSW per year, and generates a net of 3.1 MW/yr electricity was examined. The results of this study showed that WTE processing of the MSW reduces fossil fuel consumption and is environmentally superior to land filling.