UPSWING: An advanced waste treatment concept compared to state-of-the-art

The present thesis is set out to assess the potential of a novel and innovative approach for the recovery of energy from municipal solid waste, in the following referred to as the UPSWING concept. This (theoretical) concept describes the coupling of a waste incinerator with a conventional power plant, both on the steam- and on the flue gas side. The waste flue gases are pre-cleaned prior to injection into the power plant process in order to keep substances, potentially harmful for the environment as well as for the power plant process, away from the power plants’ boiler system. The concept proposes significant benefits in terms of efficient waste-to-energy conversion, but also towards the required investment costs, which are expected to be considerably lower compared to a same-sized municipal solid waste incinerator. The demand for such advanced concepts is given by European Legislation, setting strict rules on landfill disposal of untreated municipal solid waste, while promoting more environmentally friendly and more efficient waste treatment concepts under the framework of the Community Waste Strategy COM(96) 399. In this thesis the environmental, operational and economic performance of the UPSWING concept is evaluated by means of a process comparison with other state-of-the-art concepts. In this context, conventional municipal solid waste incineration and direct co-combustion of waste-derived fuels in thermal power plants have been considered. Environmental and operational aspects were investigated by experimental and theoretical means, while the economical aspects were theoretically assessed by a comparison of the anticipated costs for waste treatment. Following this approach, it was possible to identify benefits respectively deficits of the different waste treatment concepts investigated within the scope of this thesis. In essence, it was found that the UPSWING process is capable to maintain the high environmental standards of municipal solid waste incineration. In terms of process efficiency and necessary investment costs, significant benefits compared to a standalone waste incinerator were found, while restrictions and potential problems could be determined in terms of waste flue gas and steam integration. Nevertheless, the UPSWING process proposes significant advantages and a large-scale demonstration of the process could be the next step to evaluate its overall capabilities.