Innovative Waste Management Technology on Biogas Recovery

Innovative Waste Management Technology on Biogas Recovery. There is no single definition for waste management because it can mean different things depending on the type of waste.

Innovative waste management technologies are ways of treating the wastes that have been generated. The waste can be treated in many different ways to eliminate as a hazard to the environment and humans.

There is no single definition for waste management. Because it can mean different things depending on the type of waste being managed and the purpose of the disposal. In general, waste management is the collection, transport, processing and disposal or reuse of solid and liquid wastes. Hence, are generated from households, commerce, industry and agriculture. It also includes the treatment and disposal of sewage and the treatment and disposal of industrial wastewater. It can also involve the recovery of materials from the waste stream for recycling or resource recovery. Such as composting or anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. 

Classes of wastes

There are different classes of wastes: solid wastes (e.g., municipal solid waste), hazardous wastes (e.g., household hazardous waste), nuclear wastes (e.g., spent nuclear fuel), radioactive wastes (e.g., radioactive decommissioning wastes), medical/infectious hospital wastes (e.g., pathogenic hospital wastes), agricultural wastes (e.g., farm animal manures), sludge (e.g., sewage sludge) and by-products from manufacturing processes that have been discarded or recycled into new products (e.g., recycled paper). 

Of these classes, municipal solid waste is the most problematic today. Because much of it ends up in landfills where it eventually decomposes and produces landfill gas. Hence, contains methane which is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 21 times greater than carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste has been increasing exponentially since the 1960s. So if we do not change our behavior soon this will become a major problem for us all.

One of the most common methods of treating waste is to compress the waste material into a solid form. Or burn it in a furnace which transforms it into carbon dioxide and water. In some cases, refuse can be recycled. Some landfills even have machines that can recover some of the methane gas emitted by the decaying material.

The Innovative Waste Management Technologies include:

Biogas recovery
Waste composting
Co-processing (incineration) with energy recovery by incineration
Incineration with energy recovery using direct combustion, electricity generation or district heating and cooling systems
Incineration with energy recovery using high-temperature steam and natural gas for process heat and electricity generation, district heating, or cogeneration (CHP) systems.

In particular, let’s talk about Biogas Recovery.

What is Biogas Recovery?

Biogas is a mixture of gases produced by the breakdown of organic material in the absence of oxygen. Also, Biogas can be produced from raw materials, such as agricultural and municipal waste, sewage sludge, landfills, and manure. Biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. 

Further, Biogas is primarily methane (CH). But can also contain significant quantities of carbon dioxide (CO), hydrogen sulphide (HS), and other trace components. Biogas can be used as fuel either directly via combustion or indirectly via conversion to natural gas or methanol.

Moreover, Biogas is increasingly being used as a source of renewable energy around the world.
Biogas recovery systems are an innovative technology for waste management, which will help reduce the amount of gas being released into the atmosphere and hence reduce global warming.

Biogas recovery systems include different technologies that facilitate the collection, storage, and use of biogas for electricity generation, heating, and use as a transportation fuel.

Immense need

The potential for biogas recovery from food waste is immense. Less than 3% of all food waste generated in Europe is currently being recovered for energy purposes. The vast majority ends up in landfills where it starts to decompose and produce landfill gas which contains methane which is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 21 times greater than carbon dioxide. A study by Cardiff University has shown that if we harnessed just 6% of food waste as biomethane we could generate enough electricity to power 1 million homes – that’s the same number of households in Birmingham!