Analysis of scientific production of refused derived fuel through scientometric and bibliometric indicators

Abstract

Constant urbanization has intensified the volume of solid urban waste generated, in addition to causing the exhaustion of landfills and the elevation of carbon in the atmosphere. New treatment technologies allow waste to be transformed, having economic value and, consequently, increasing the useful life of landfills. Energy recovery as a solution for the recovery of waste, through conversion to Refused Derived Fuel, in order to be used, for example, in industries. The aim of this study was to analyze the current state of scientific production on RDF production through scientometric and bibliometric indicators. The distribution of study sites suggests a global interest from both developed and developing countries. The most frequent terms analyzed in the word cloud of the article titles focus on words related to the energy recovery of waste and the main words in the abstracts emphasized the methods of energy recycling, life cycle and incineration. The analysis of networks by co-occurrence of words showed that the synergy occurs around the term waste, with terms that demonstrate a tendency to use solid waste as an energy source, in order to contribute to the municipal management of these materials. In addition, one of the energy conversion processes, gasification, was highlighted, pointing out that this process is one of the most applied. Finally, the potential collaborations of the factor analysis that verified two clusters focused on energy issues and related to the management of urban solid waste.