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Power Generation from Landfill Gas and a Case Study

Received: 9 July 2020     Accepted: 9 November 2020     Published: 16 November 2020
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Abstract

Municipal solid waste is a pool of various solid wastes by towns and cities from different types of household activities. All over the world, municipal solid wastes are dumped in permitted landfills. Landfill gas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide which is emitted from the dumping sites of municipal wastes. Methane is a flammable toxic greenhouse gas more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Instead of discharging into the atmosphere and becoming a greenhouse gas which is harmful to the environment, methane can be collected in every landfill and used to produce useful energy. This paper outlines the basic procedure for estimation of methane from landfill site. The Landfill Gas Emissions Model (Landgem) is an automated estimation tool with a Microsoft Excel interface which is available from the EPA's Clean Air Technology Center. It can be used to estimate emissions rate of methane from municipal solid waste landfills. Based on the methane emission rate obtained from Landgem output and the heating value of methane, the net heat input available and hence the potential for generation of electric power can be computed. A typical case study on the evaluation of methane emission rate from a landfill site at Namibia and its potential for generation of electric power as well as the cost estimates are presented. It is found that the power plant would be able to provide 142 streetlights in the city with electrical energy every day.

Published in International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering (Volume 9, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12
Page(s) 81-85
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Landfill, Methane Generation, Potential for Electric Power Generation, Power Generation Cost

References
[1] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1996). Report of the Twelfth Season of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mexico City.
[2] William H. L. Stafford. (2020). WtE Best Practices and Perspectives in Africa. Municipal Solid Waste Energy Conversion in Developing Countries. Elsevier. 185-192 doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-813419-1.00006-1.
[3] J. F. Artiola. (2019). Industrial Waste and Municipal Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal. Academic Press Environmental and Pollution Science. Elsevier. 377-384. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-814719-1.00021-5.
[4] Ria Millati, (2019) Agricultural, Industrial, Municipal, and Forest Wastes: An Overview, Sustainable Resource Recovery and Zero Waste Approaches, Elsevier. 1-22. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64200-4.00001-3.
[5] Sampurna Datta & Lauren Eastes. (2015) Biodegradation in Municipal Solid Waste landfills. Geo environmental Engineering.
[6] Kumar, S., Gaikwad, S., Shekdar, A., Singh, R. (2004), Estimation method for national methane emission from solid waste landfills. Atmospheric Environment, 3481-3487. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.02.057
[7] United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2005) Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM) Version3.02 User’s Guide. 1-41. EPA-600/R-05/047.
[8] LFG Energy Project Development Handbook (2016). Landfill Methane Outreach Program. EPA. 1-14.
[9] Zishen Mou, Charlotte Scheutz, Peter Kjeldsen. (2015). Evaluating the methane generation rate constant (k value) of low-organic waste at Danish landfills. Waste Management Volume 35. Elsevier. 170-176 doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.10.003.
[10] Daniel P. Duffy. (2012). Land GEM: the EPA’s Landfill Gas Emissions Model. MSW Management 22 (2). 49-54.
[11] City of Windhoek (2011). Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. Department of Infrastructure, Water and Waste Management, Windhoek. 1-12.
[12] Burchell, T., Rogers, M. (2000). Low Pressure Storage of Natural Gas for Vehicular Applications SAE Technical Paper Series. Oak Ridge national Lab. 1-5. ISSN 0148-7191.
[13] LFG Energy Project Development Handbook. (2017). Landfill Methane Outreach Program. EPA. 1-15.
[14] Robert L. Evans. (1986) Automotive Engine Alternatives. Springer. 83-104. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-9348-2.
[15] Landfill Gas Purification System Product Brochure. (2918). Guild Associates Inc, Dublin, Ohio.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Rajaram Swaminathan, Israel Johannes. (2020). Power Generation from Landfill Gas and a Case Study. International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering, 9(5), 81-85. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12

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    ACS Style

    Rajaram Swaminathan; Israel Johannes. Power Generation from Landfill Gas and a Case Study. Int. J. Energy Power Eng. 2020, 9(5), 81-85. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12

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    AMA Style

    Rajaram Swaminathan, Israel Johannes. Power Generation from Landfill Gas and a Case Study. Int J Energy Power Eng. 2020;9(5):81-85. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12,
      author = {Rajaram Swaminathan and Israel Johannes},
      title = {Power Generation from Landfill Gas and a Case Study},
      journal = {International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering},
      volume = {9},
      number = {5},
      pages = {81-85},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepe.20200905.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepe.20200905.12},
      abstract = {Municipal solid waste is a pool of various solid wastes by towns and cities from different types of household activities. All over the world, municipal solid wastes are dumped in permitted landfills. Landfill gas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide which is emitted from the dumping sites of municipal wastes. Methane is a flammable toxic greenhouse gas more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Instead of discharging into the atmosphere and becoming a greenhouse gas which is harmful to the environment, methane can be collected in every landfill and used to produce useful energy. This paper outlines the basic procedure for estimation of methane from landfill site. The Landfill Gas Emissions Model (Landgem) is an automated estimation tool with a Microsoft Excel interface which is available from the EPA's Clean Air Technology Center. It can be used to estimate emissions rate of methane from municipal solid waste landfills. Based on the methane emission rate obtained from Landgem output and the heating value of methane, the net heat input available and hence the potential for generation of electric power can be computed. A typical case study on the evaluation of methane emission rate from a landfill site at Namibia and its potential for generation of electric power as well as the cost estimates are presented. It is found that the power plant would be able to provide 142 streetlights in the city with electrical energy every day.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Rajaram Swaminathan
    AU  - Israel Johannes
    Y1  - 2020/11/16
    PY  - 2020
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    T2  - International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
    JF  - International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
    JO  - International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - Municipal solid waste is a pool of various solid wastes by towns and cities from different types of household activities. All over the world, municipal solid wastes are dumped in permitted landfills. Landfill gas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide which is emitted from the dumping sites of municipal wastes. Methane is a flammable toxic greenhouse gas more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Instead of discharging into the atmosphere and becoming a greenhouse gas which is harmful to the environment, methane can be collected in every landfill and used to produce useful energy. This paper outlines the basic procedure for estimation of methane from landfill site. The Landfill Gas Emissions Model (Landgem) is an automated estimation tool with a Microsoft Excel interface which is available from the EPA's Clean Air Technology Center. It can be used to estimate emissions rate of methane from municipal solid waste landfills. Based on the methane emission rate obtained from Landgem output and the heating value of methane, the net heat input available and hence the potential for generation of electric power can be computed. A typical case study on the evaluation of methane emission rate from a landfill site at Namibia and its potential for generation of electric power as well as the cost estimates are presented. It is found that the power plant would be able to provide 142 streetlights in the city with electrical energy every day.
    VL  - 9
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Author Information
  • Department of Mechanical and Marine Engineering, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia

  • Department of Mechanical and Marine Engineering, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia

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