Small-scale steam turbine and electric generation from municipal solid waste

Abstract

This is a comprehensive study of electric generation through municipal solid waste on Providencia Island, Colombia. It focuses on the benefits that waste-to-energy facilities bring to small communities and even large ones. The importance of the refuse classification and its separation in obtaining the suitable power is considered in the paper. Afterwards the data, such as pressure, mass flow rate and temperature outlet, is used to design and set the basic parameters in the steam turbine, which leads in the election of the best electric generation for this sort of application. The results of this study will show some brief quantification benefits of this way of electric generation in small and probably large populations based on electric demand covered, CO2 emissions, landfilling and money savings with the use of fewer diesels for electric generation. The study comes to the conclusion that the electric generation through municipal solid waste can cover from 7 up to 15% of the electric demand of the population, which gives valuable information on the way that we generate electricity nowadays.