Waste to Energy
Waste to Energy: Landfill Gas Introduction Two primary processes exist to convert municipal solid waste to energy. They are, capturing landfill gas and combustion of trash to produce energy. ... Trash combustion is a process that burns municipal waste as a fuel to power generators and boilers. This report will focus on using landfill gas as the method to convert waste to energy. ... Landfill gas is the by product of the decomposition of municipal solid waste (MSW). “Municipal solid waste contains significant portions of organic materials that produce a variety of gaseous products when dumped, compacted, and covered in landfills. ... Landfill gas energy facilities capture the methane (the principal component of natural gas) and combust it for energy. ... Flaring is simply burning the gas off with an open flame at the MSW facility as result no energy is gained and the pollutants from the gas are released. ... A typical recovery system consists of vertical or horizontal wells, which are drilled into the waste or are placed in position at the time of land filling. ... gov) Landfill gas can be use as an energy source to power a number of items. ... Internal combustion engines (ICs) and gas turbines are commonly used for landfill gas energy recovery projects. ... They operate by converting chemical energy into usable electric and heat energy. ... EPA describes fuel cells as "potentially one of the cleanest energy conversion technologies available. ... Summary Landfill gas is a renewable energy source that can supply power from the large number of existing and future landfills in the United States.