RECUPERATIVE ENERGY POTENTIAL FROM A TYPICAL LANDFILL IN MALAYSIA

The study looks into availability of recuperative energy potential from a typical landfill in Malaysia. Due to the rapid urbanization, rising population and lifestyle changes, the amount of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in Malaysia is increasing year by year. The average amount of MSW generated in Malaysia ranges from 0.5 kg/person/day in rural areas to 1.7 kg/person/day in urban areas. There are huge amounts of waste generated and they need a lot of landfill space according to current practices. Once a landfill is full, another landfill area will be needed to dump the ever increasing wastes. This study focused on the landfill potential as a solid feed for a recuperative energy incinerator. Landfill energy potential from solid consists mainly of organic materials such as paper, food wastes, biomass and the soil. Since the potential energy from MSW materials were well known, the study delved mostly into the soil energy potential from the landfill in the form of its calorific values (CV). The CVs obtained from soil at various locations were in the range of 1.1 MJ/kg to 14.89 MJ/kg at a typical landfill in Malaysia. The CV values could be enhanced for incineration by mixing with MSW as well as co-firing with gaseous fuels.