Predicting the Quantity of Municipal Solid Waste Required for Power Generation Using Power Plant Design Parameters

In energy recovery technology, via municipal solid waste (MSW) as an energy resource; the capacity of the power plant required can be designed, if the potentials of the heat and electrical energy of the waste to be combusted has been established. Conversely, in this research, the amount of power potential of the waste required as fuel, is determined through the design for the capacity of the steam power plant that will utilize municipal solid waste as an energy resource. The capacity of the power plant is designed, using single reheat Rankine cycle. The pressure and temperature selected for the design of the boiler is 30 bar and 400 °C, the pressure at the reheat tube is 6 bar, and the pressure at the condenser is 0.032 bar. The heat supplied to the boiler is calculated to be 3639.2 kJ/kg, the total work-output of the turbine is 1451.4 kJ/kg and the heat rejected at the condenser is 2187.6 kJ/kg. The quantity of MSW required is predicted to be 418 MJ/kg based on the calorific value of 20 MJ/kg, and its heat energy and electrical power potentials is predicted to be 2.3 GWh and 29 MW respectively while the grid to power is 20 MW.