Municipal waste used for large scale cogeneration

Occidental Chemical Corporation in the U.S., uses municipal solid waste (MSW) for large scale cogeneration of process steam and electricity in it's chemical plant. The processing of the MSW is based on shredding/air classification technology to produce the refuse derived fuel (RDF) and the RDF uses semi suspension water wall technology to fire two steam generators. The various problems with different aspects of the technology are discussed. These include compaction of the RDF during storage, reduction of explosion potential of the MSW during shredding and boiler tube wastage due to high temperatures. A brief assessment of performance since Aug 1984 shows that the facility operates efficiently with an on-stream factor of above 90% for both the processing plant and the boilers. Between 11,000 and 12,000 tons/wk of MSW are burned and is limited only by garbage availability.