WASTE TO ENERGY: RUNNING GENERATOR ON TRASH

Project Title

WASTE TO ENERGY: RUNNING GENERATOR ON TRASH

Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary

According to Pakistan Waste Management System, Pakistan generates around 48.5 million tons of solid waste a year, with an increased annual rate of 2%. Almost 87,000 tons of solid waste is generated per day, mostly from metropolitan areas such as Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Quetta etc. According to Environment Protection Department, Government of Punjab, the most common types of Solid Waste available in Pakistan are:

1. Municipal solid waste
2. Industrial waste
3. Agricultural waste
4. Hazardous waste

Most of the waste is either burned or buried under the vacant soil, threatening the health of local population, which is not acceptable by global standards now. Moreover, it causes an increased number of landfills.

Therefore, solid Waste can be used to generate electricity. We plan to use thermochemical conversion Pyrolysis/Gasification techniques to build a prototype of waste-to-energy plant. We will use different compositions of solid waste such as paper, wood etc. to produce syngas through gasification. We will use this syngas to run generator which will generate electricity. We can use this gas for other purposes too such as fuel for vehicle or gas for domestic/household purposes. We will also analyse the results obtained from the prototype to estimate the possibilities for a Waste-to-Energy Power Plant.

Project Objectives

This project aims at making a waste to energy plant prototype. Our primary goals are:

1. To evaluate the existing solid waste management practices and procedures and to propose the better ones suitable for power generation point of view.
2. To estimate Waste-to-Energy potential in Pakistan
3. To generate gas through different compositions of solid waste (i.e. Paper waste and agricultural waste)
4. To develop a prototype generator running on the gas produced through different compositions
5. To investigate the results obtained from prototype to distinguish between different solid waste compositions.

Project Implementation Method

To make this project possible, we plan to do following activities;

1. Bibliographic review on:

a) Waste management, practices and waste to energy potential in Pakistan.

b) A comparison will be made with other countries systems.  

c) Solid waste characterization techniques/methods.

d) Different types of waste-to-energy options (i.e. composting, gasification and incineration with and without energy recovery).

2. Design and develop a generator to produce electricity through trash.

a) Gasification of different composition of trash especially paper and agricultural waste.

b) Estimate the lower calorific value of the different composition.

c) The produced gas will be used to generate the electricity.

3. Analyze the data collected from the prototype to predict the future power generation capacity of a Waste-to-Energy power plant with the available waste compositions.

Benefits of the Project

The following are the major benefits of this Project:

1. Demonstration of  Waste to Energy plant prototype that saves fuel cost as compared to thermal power plant that uses expensive fossil fuel.

2. Helps to determine the Waste to Energy potential in pakistan.

3. Waste to Energy plants resolve the issue of landfilling space.

4. Pakistan is an agricultural country, it has large amount of seasonal agricultural waste that could be used to produce syngas.The produced syngas then can be used for multiple purposes such as, electricity generation, vehicles fuel,etc.

5. Electricity produce from waste to energy plant would be less expensive than thermal power plant that uses fossil fuels.  

6. Proper collection of solid waste can be achieve through waste to energy plant.

7. Reduces issues related to public health and safety.

8. Reduces environmental issues that was created by solid waste (open dump).   

9. Contribution in research work.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The following are the technical details of Final deliverable from waste energy.

1.Gassification process:

Different composition of solid waste such as, agriculture waste, paper, etc. are used in gasifier tank to produce syngas.

2. Storage of syngas:

The produced gas is then stored into the cylinder.

3. Generation process:

The stored syngas is then fed to the engine that is coupled with DC generator that will generate DC voltages. The output of DC generator voltage (24V) is fed to the DC voltage regulator  and the output of DC voltage regulator (12V) is the input of inverter. Inverter will converts the DC voltage into the AC voltages (12V DC to 220 AC). Hence load such as Energy saver bulb can be connected to the inverter output.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry Energy Other IndustriesCore Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Responsible Consumption and Production, Life on LandRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	75600
100W inverter 12V DC to 220v AC	Equipment	1	5000	5000
25cc 2 stroke Engine	Equipment	1	17000	17000
24V Electric Motor/Generator	Equipment	1	12500	12500
12V DC Voltage Regulator	Equipment	1	4000	4000
12V DC Air Blower	Equipment	1	2500	2500
Energy Saver with Holder	Equipment	2	600	1200
Mini Flame Gun	Equipment	2	2500	5000
12V DC Battery	Equipment	1	2000	2000
1500uF 50V capacitor	Equipment	2	200	400
Gasifier Tank	Equipment	2	2500	5000
5-meter Helical coil	Equipment	1	2000	2000
Digital Weight machine	Equipment	1	5000	5000
Gas storage tank/cylinder	Equipment	1	4000	4000
Scissors	Miscellaneous	1	400	400
Pair of Safety Gloves	Miscellaneous	2	750	1500
Insulation Tape	Miscellaneous	1	50	50
Bypass Ball valve	Miscellaneous	1	1000	1000
500 ml Glass Jar	Miscellaneous	2	700	1400
2x1-square meter wooden board	Miscellaneous	1	4500	4500
Flat Head Wood Screw	Miscellaneous	20	7	140
5-meter Copper Wire	Miscellaneous	1	500	500
Iron Tee	Miscellaneous	1	310	310
2-meter Rubber Pipe	Miscellaneous	1	200	200