Waste to Energy Plant Basel, Switzerland; a Contribution to the Sustainable Development

摘要

Since the first waste incineration plant started to operate in 1943 all the remaining waste from Basel is treated before disposal. Because of the age and unsatisfactory combustion, the meanwhile two plants were replaced by a new Waste to Energy (WtE) plant in 1998. After evaluation of different combustion technologies a conventional grate combustion was selected. For the flue gas treatment a wet cleaning system from the former plant was still used with an electrostatic filter, acid washer and a heavy metal precipitation. Additionally a catalyst was installed to destroy the Nitrogen Oxides, the Dioxins and Furans formed during the combustion. The slag is disposed in a controlled land fill after recovery of the metals; the fly ash is stored in a salt mine. The monitoring procedures for the emissions as well the measured values are presented. During the planning phase the responsibles attached great importance remaining the existing incineration capacity of 200'000 tons per year but to increase the catching area and to optimize the energy recovery. With 5 regional partners representing 700'000 inhabitants contracts with waste shortage could be settled, all started waste minimization programs. Basel e.g. reduced the remaining waste with recycling and prevention campaigns by 30%. The energy recovery is 82%, top in Europe providing the district heating with warm water, the industries with vapor and the local network with electricity. The saving in natural gas is about 46'000'000 m~3. Thank to the renewable components in the waste the greenhouse gas can be significantly reduced compared to the natural gas. For optimization the daily work a quality management system ISO 9001 was introduced simultaneously with an environmental management system ISO 14001 in 2002. The latter is used setting the goals in respect to the optimization of resources, production, emissions and economy. With the use of remaining waste as a regional energy source, the reduction of emissions, optimizing the energy production to reduce the natural gas consumption and greenhouse gases the WtE plant in Basel can be considered as a contribution to the sustainable development.