A Biogas Plant and Incinerator for Municipal Solid Waste Management

Communities around the world generate refuse of diverse nature and complexities, the disposal of which poses serious challenges to waste management systems. Environmentally sustainable waste management requires the reduction of their pollution potential as well as minimisation of their volume for easier handling and disposal. This book assessed the potentials of generating biogas from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW) to fuel an incinerator which is then used to burn the residual combustible solid waste. The efficacy of the digester in producing biogas were in three (3) phases. Lowest: day 3-11 @ 0.018m3/kg, highest; day 15-55 @ 0.034m3/kg and medium; day 55-94 @ 0.031m3/kg. Fertilizer values based on the ratios of N:P:K:Mg were 28:1:22:4; 1:971:821:1995 and 10:1:59:104 for digestate, bottom ash and their combination respectively. Total Organic Carbon contents of the digested solid waste were 0.1389 %, 0.8099 %, and 0.3008 % of the initial mass for the three samples respectively. A small scale incinerator was built and a biogas-air mixer was developed for optimal burner efficiency. Biogas burnt at 870 deg C with 16kJ/g calorific value at the rate of 0.0071m3/min.