Towards waste-to-energy-and-materials processes with advanced thermochemical combustion intelligence in the circular economy

De Greef, Johan (author), Hoang, Quynh N. (author), Vandevelde, Raf (author), Meynendonckx, Wouter (author), Bouchaar, Zouhir (author), Granata, Giuseppe (author), Verbeke, Mathias (author), Ishteva, Mariya (author), Seljak, Tine (author), Van Caneghem, Jo (author), Vanierschot, Maarten (author)

Waste-to-energy processes remain essential to ensure the safe and irreversible removal of materials and substances that are (or have become) unsuitable for reuse or recycling, and hence, to keep intended cycles of materials in the circular economy clean. In this paper, the behavior of inorganic compounds in waste-to-energy combustion processes are discussed from a multi-disciplinary perspective, against a background of ever tightening emission limits and targets of increasing energy efficiency and materials recovery. This leads to the observation that, due to the typical complexity of thermally treated waste, the intelligence of combustion control systems used in state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plants needs to be expanded to better control the behavior of inorganic compounds that typically end up in waste furnaces. This paper further explains how this goal can be achieved by developing (experimentally validated) predictive numerical models that are engineering-based and/or data-driven. Additionally, the significant economic potential of advanced thermochemical intelligence towards inorganic compounds in waste-to-energy combustion control systems is estimated on the basis of typical operational figures.

• Language: English
• Keywords: waste-to-energy, inorganic compounds, combustion control, numerical models, data-driven models, municipal solid waste, raw materials
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 16, iss. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-168739
• UDC: 621.4
• ISSN on article: 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en16041644
• COBISS.SI-ID: 165018627
• Publication date in RUL: 22.04.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Energies
• Shortened title: Energies
• Publisher: Molecular Diversity Preservation International
• ISSN: 1996-1073
• COBISS.SI-ID: 518046745

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kontrola izpuhov, numerični modeli

Projects

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Project number: 3E200396
• Name: Towards continuous combustion of gasified municipal solid waste

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0401-2022
• Name: Energetsko strojništvo