Energy recovery from waste incineration: Assessing the importance of district heating networks
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby (Denmark)
Municipal solid waste incineration contributes with 20% of the heat supplied to the more than 400 district heating networks in Denmark. In evaluation of the environmental consequences of this heat production, the typical approach has been to assume that other (fossil) fuels could be saved on a 1:1 basis (e.g. 1 GJ of waste heat delivered substitutes for 1 GJ of coal-based heat). This paper investigates consequences of waste-based heat substitution in two specific Danish district heating networks and the energy-associated interactions between the plants connected to these networks. Despite almost equal electricity and heat efficiencies at the waste incinerators connected to the two district heating networks, the energy and CO{sub 2} accounts showed significantly different results: waste incineration in one network caused a CO{sub 2} saving of 48 kg CO{sub 2}/GJ energy input while in the other network a load of 43 kg CO{sub 2}/GJ. This was caused mainly by differences in operation mode and fuel types of the other heat producing plants attached to the networks. The paper clearly indicates that simple evaluations of waste-to-energy efficiencies at the incinerator are insufficient for assessing the consequences of heat substitution in district heating network systems. The paper also shows that using national averages for heat substitution will not provide a correct answer: local conditions need to be addressed thoroughly otherwise we may fail to assess correctly the heat recovery from waste incineration.
- OSTI ID:
- 21357683
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 30, Issue 7; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2010.03.026; PII: S0956-053X(10)00195-9; Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CARBON DIOXIDE
COAL
COMBUSTION
DENMARK
DISTRICT HEATING
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
HEAT PRODUCTION
HEAT RECOVERY
SOLID WASTES
WASTE HEAT
WASTE INCINERATORS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONVERSION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY
ENERGY CONVERSION
ENERGY RECOVERY
ENERGY SOURCES
EUROPE
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HEAT
HEATING
INCINERATORS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MATERIALS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SCANDINAVIA
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS
WASTES
WESTERN EUROPE