Energy management in municipal solid waste treatment: a case study of a mechanical biological treatment facility

摘要

Over the last few years, mechanical biological treatment systemsrnfor municipal solid waste have been introduced in manyrnEuropean countries. In most cases, this was driven by the EuropeanrnUnion Landfill Directive, which requires the diversion ofrnbiodegradable municipal waste from landfill to alternative processes.rnAlthough this type of treatment allows energy recoveryrnfrom municipal solid waste, the process of mechanical biologicalrntreatment appears to be an intensive energy consumer, duernto high demand of electricity consumed by process equipment.rnThis paper presents the main results of an energy auditrnperformed to a Mechanical Biological Treatment facility inrnPortugal, which due to the amount of energy consumed mustrncomply with the Portuguese Program called Intensive EnergyrnConsumption Management System – SGCIE. The programrnwas created in 2008 to promote energy efficiency and energyrnconsumption monitoring in intensive energy facilities (energyrnconsumption higher than 500 toe per year). Facilities operatorsrnare required to perform energy audits and take actions to drawrnup an action plan for energy efficiency, establishing targets forrnenergy consumption reduction and greenhouse gases emissionsrnindexes.rnTo implement actions that improve energy efficiency, it isrnnecessary for the facilities operation to be associated with anrneffective energy management methodology, as well as an efficientrnfacilities management procedure. The implementationrnof any energy management system should start with an energy audit, which was carried out to identify potential energy conservationrnmeasures for improving energy efficiency, and alsorntypical energy consumption patterns and sector/equipmentrnload profiles. This tool gives managers the information to supportrndecision making on improving energy performance andrnreducing greenhouse gas emissions.rnResults shown that there is a considerable potential for reducingrnenergy consumption and greenhouse gases emissionsrnon Mechanical Biological Treatment units. Here, as elsewherernin the industrial sector, energy efficiency can only be achievedrnthrough a continuous energy monitoring and managementrnsystem.