Energy Recovery Opportunities from Wastes

Abstract

Energy recovery opportunities from wastes are discussed, together with associated challenges on the environmentally benign energy recovery. The amount of waste generated worldwide has continued to increase in the current century. Most of the wastes have significant energy potential. The utilization of wastes can save millions of dollars on the national scale. However, difficulties exist for their utilization in propulsion and power systems in an environmentally acceptable manner. It is anticipated that the amount of waste generated will continue to grow in the next millenium, along with associated changes in its composition. The thermal destruction of wastes to the molecular level allows one to more cleanly convert waste into usable energy. The challenges provide opportunities for combustion engineers, whose research is now becoming even more important with new emphasis. Research in combustion-related areas has expanded significantly in recent years, particularly in areas related to fossil fuels and wastes being used as fuels. The field of combustion is further diversified by the complex nature of most reaction processes. Fuel chemistry, fluid mechanics, convective and radiative heat transfer, gas-phase elementary reactions, turbulence, and particle kinetics and dynamics are relevant processes that often have a direct, and sometimes controlling, influence on the behavior of a particular combustion system. Sensors, diagnostics, and miniaturization of the system continue to be of major importance for successful implementation of this new technology.