Assessment of the impact of moisture content on the heating value of Municipal solid waste from Kabagarame dumping site in Bushenyi District, Uganda

Abstract

Modern management of waste around the world has moved from waste disposal to energy recovery through WtE. Technologies that can be utilized to recover energy from MSW mainly include thermal conversion processes such as incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, biochemical conversion processes and chemical conversion. This study focused on the impact of moisture content on the heating value of Municipal solid waste from Kabagarame dumping site in Bushenyi District, Uganda. Specifically, wet solid waste samples were analyzed and the impact of moisture content on the heating value was evaluated. This study evaluated the impact of moisture content on the heating value of the waste. The result showed that dry matter gives out more energy than wet matter. The Gross energy content of the MSW on wet basis when compared to the Gross energy content on dry basis is observed to be lower. This is attributed to the fact that the moisture content in the waste lowers the heating value of the waste by absorbing the heat thereby reducing the relative efficiency of heating when the solid waste is combusted. In, wet season, there should be a temporary roof at the dumping site to shelter the municipal solid waste so as to minimize exposure of the waste to moisture as this significantly lowers the Energy content of the waste. Keywords: Moisture content, heating value, solid waste and dumping site