Track: Waste Management

Abstract

The objective of this research is to minimize the environmental impact of municipal solid waste through the development of a waste to electricity Rankine cycle power plant to generate steam and electricity from municipal solid waste for Nairobi city as a solution to waste management challenges. Quantification of solid waste for the City was done to provide design data for sizing and selection of a solid mass burning boiler furnace. The study demonstrated that municipal solid waste can be used as fuel directly or as refuse derived fuel upon processing which enhances its properties for use in electricity production. The study proposes a power plant of capacity 12 MW processing 3000 tonnes of solid waste per day. The main elements of the plant are, a multi-fuel boiler, super heater, economizer, turbine, surface condenser and a cooling tower. The power plant can generate 72, 751,770 kWhrs of electricity annually. This will lead to avoided carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and hence make a contribution to the energy transition. Additionally waste to energy conversion reduces the weight of solid waste by 60 to 90% of the original weight making disposal easier. The electricity will be sold to the grid to generate revenue to improve solid waste management and other programs leading to sustainable environmental management for the city.