Abstract
This study examines the power generation process of a very small power plant (VSPP)-municipal waste (MSW) from an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with an incinerator. The refuse derived fuel type 3 (RDF-3) from a mixed fuel of the infectious medical and municipal wastes at a low heating value of 26.92 MJ/kg is the main heat source of the VSPP. RDF-3 is sterilized by using shredding and heating processes (hybrid steam sterilization). The mixed fuel at a disposal rate of approximately 92 kg/h is used to generate hot water and accumulated heat in a high-pressure tank of 1500 L. Hot water at the temperature and heating rate of approximately 105.38 °C and 240.32 kW, respectively, is generated from the incinerator at an energy efficiency of 31.66% and an exergy efficiency of 4.05%. In the heat-to-power process, the hot fluid is supplied through an R-245fa-ORC system to produce electricity at a gross power of 23.65 kWe. The ORC efficiency is investigated in terms of the energy and exergy of approximately 8.05% and 39.98%, respectively. The VSPP-MSW system reveals an energy efficiency of 0.91% and an exergy efficiency of 0.89%. In the economic results, the levelized exergy cost is 0.257 USD/kWh, which is slightly higher than that of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for integrated solid-waste management of 0.209 USD/kWh, but this method is economical for the disposal cost of the infectious medical waste in Thailand in the range of 0.494–0.659 USD/kg.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call