Assessment of Power Generation Potential from Municipal Solid Wastes: A Case Study of Hyderabad City,Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to estimate the power generation potential through utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW) in order to overcome energy crisis, faced by country now a days. The waste-to-energy has proven itself to be an environment friendly solution for the disposal of municipal solid waste. Representative samples of the MSW were collected from the open dumping sites of solid wastes and analyzed for calorific value by using a Bomb Calorimeter in the laboratory. Net and gross calorific value of mixed MSW were obtained as 6519 & 6749 kcal/kg, respectively. Based upon its calorific value, net power generation was estimated as 1512 kWh per ton of MSW generated. This shows that MSW generated in the study area is more suitable for thermal treatment process. In this regard, different thermal treatment technologies have been compared with respect to various parameters and mass burn incinerator is found suitable for generation of power. This technology for conversion of MSW into power generation would not only be beneficial to meet the power demand but also reduce the environmental pollution to certain extent.