Title: The effect of changing waste compositions on the incineration process of Municipal Solid Wastes in packed-bed systems: a CFD approach

Authors: Yao Bin Yang, Vida N. Sharifi, Jim Swithenbank

Addresses: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Sheffield University Waste Incineration Centre (SUWIC), Sheffield University, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK. ' Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Sheffield University Waste Incineration Centre (SUWIC), Sheffield University, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK. ' Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Sheffield University Waste Incineration Centre (SUWIC), Sheffield University, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

Abstract: With the recent changes in waste management policy across many EU countries, more and more efforts are now being made on wastes recycling and minimisation. In this paper, the effects of the changing compositions of wastes on the operation of incineration plants are addressed. CFD technique is used to simulate the incineration processes in grate systems and advanced mathematical models are employed. The incineration characteristics have been expressed as functions of the percentage of combustible materials in wastes taken away for recycling. To offset the deteriorated performance of incineration in some cases, alternative operation modes have been suggested and simulated.

Keywords: waste incineration; municipal solid waste; MSW; mathematical modelling; CFD; computational fluid dynamics; waste composition; waste management; simulation; recycling; burning rate; temperature profile; gas emissions; combustion efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2007.011881

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2007 Vol.7 No.1, pp.3 - 10

Published online: 30 Dec 2006 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article