TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING PULCHOWK CAMPUS

Techno-economic Assessment of Waste-to-Energy Conversion: Anaerobic Digestion for Solid Waste Management in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)

By Anirudh Prasad Sah (064 MSREE 502)

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN RENEWAL ENERGY ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LALITPUR, NEPAL MARCH, 2010

COPYRIGHT

The author has agreed that the library, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering may make this thesis freely available for readers. Moreover, the author has agreed that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purpose may be granted by the professor(s) who supervised the project work recorded herein or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department wherein the thesis was done. It is understood that due recognition will be given to the author of this thesis and to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering in any use of the material of this thesis. Copying or publication or other uses of this thesis for financial gain without approval of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering and authors written permission is prohibited.

Request for permission to copy or to make any other use of the material in this report in whole or in part should be addressed to:

The Head Department of Mechanical Engineering Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering Lalitpur, Kathmandu Nepal

TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING PULCHOWK CAMPUS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommended to the Institute of Engineering for acceptance, a thesis report entitled " Techno-economic Assessment of Waste-to-Energy Conversion: Anaerobic Digestion for Solid Waste Management in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) " submitted by Anirudh Prasad Sah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Renewable Energy Engineering. _____________________________________________ Supervisor, Dr. Tri Ratna Bajracharya Associate Professor Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus __________________________________________ ___ Supervisor, Mr. Ram Chandra Sapkota Associate Professor Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus __________________________________________ ___ External Examiner, Mr. Surendra Bhakta Mathema Executive Director PowerTech Pvt. Ltd. Lalitpur

_____________________________________________ Committee Chairperson, Dr. Rajendra Shrestha Head of Department Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pulchowk Campus _________________ Date 3

ABSTRACT

Growing climate, energy, and environmental concerns, coupled with technological developments and regulatory changes, have ignited new interest in municipal solid waste (MSW) as an energy source with the potential to provide renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the need for landfill space. Moreover, the utilization of MSW as electricity generation source provides the better waste management solution than the traditional. Hence, this thesis has envisaged performing a techno-economic assessment of anaerobic digestion technologies. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) generates 112,566 ton per year comprising 70% of the organic components (80,000 tons/year). The lab experiments shows that organic fraction of wastes has 65,663,500 kWh per year energy content with the lower calorific value of 3MJ/kg at 69% moisture content and has a potential of extracting 16.41GWh per year energy thermally. However, the high moisture content (62%-82%) and very low calorific values make thermal conversion infeasible and Anaerobic Digestion feasible technically. This thesis thus studied two AD based technologies: Valorga and Kompogas. Based on these technologies, the mass and energy balance for the KMC plant were estimated and hence analyzed technically and economically. The results shows that though both the technologies are feasible technically, the KMC plant would not be economically feasible without the levy from KMC and this plant based on Kompogas technology was found to be more economical in comparison to Valorga technology each having 20 years of project life when internal rate of return and net present value for each technology was analysed under different scenarios.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my thesis supervisors Asso. Prof. Dr. Tri Ratna Bajracharya, Director of Center for Energy Studies and Asso. Prof. Ram Chandra Sapkota, MSREE Co-ordinator, whose ideas, knowledge, and efforts are very much embedded into this thesis. Similarly I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Bhakta Bahadur Ale, whose suggestions during the thesis helped me to analyse the technologies and Prof. Amrit Man Nakarmi, whose remarkable suggestions helped me to carry out the economical analysis based on real scenario. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pulchowk campus and am very much thankful to Dr. Rajendra Shrestha, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, for his support and encouragement, Mr. Nawraj Bhattarai, Deputy Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, for his suggestions and all the faculty members for their concerns and encouragements. I would also acknowledge to Center for Energy Studies (CES) for providing all the facilities needed, PowerTech Pvt. Ltd for providing encourageable support, Energy for Development-Nepal (EDEN) for supporting financially, Teku Transter Station for assisting to collect samples needed, my colleagues Mr. Mukesh Ghimire, Mr. Alok Dhungana, Mr. Nirajan Thapaliya, Mr. Shubhrajeet Bhattacharya, Mr. Babu Raja Maharjan for providing different journals, documents and assistance whenever needed, BE students Amir Tiwari, Anil Prajapati, Anil Kumar Gupta, Ashok Poudel for assisting while carrying out experiments to for this thesis and Senior Divisional Engineer Hare Ram Acharya for his suggestions and co-operations. Their encouragement, advice and their bright thoughts helped me to shape up my ideas. At last but not least I would also acknowledge to Deputy Administrative Head, Mr. Ganesh Shrestha and the staffs Mr. Manish Shrestha, Mr. Ram Hari Puri, Mr. Saroj Maharjan and my family for their cooperation in making this complete.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT.....................................................................................................................2 TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY...........................................................................................3 Abstract...............................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgement..............................................................................................................5 List of Tables......................................................................................................................7 List of Figures.....................................................................................................................7 Chapter One......................................................................................................................10 Introduction.......................................................................................................................10 Chaptere Two....................................................................................................................27 Research methodology.....................................................................................................27 Chapter Three...................................................................................................................30 Results and discussions....................................................................................................30 Chapter Four ....................................................................................................................36 Case Studies of AD Based Technology...........................................................................36 Chapter five.......................................................................................................................49 Technological Assessment for KMC plant......................................................................49 Chapter six........................................................................................................................55 Economical Analysis of KMC plant................................................................................55 Chapter seven....................................................................................................................61 Risk Analysis....................................................................................................................61 Chapter Eight....................................................................................................................65 Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................65 References.........................................................................................................................67 APPENDIX A: .................................................................................................................71 APPENDIX b: .................................................................................................................77 eCONOMIC aNALYIS sHEETS.....................................................................................77

LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Total amount of Waste Generated in Kathmandu Metropolitan City ............31 Table 3.2: Overall Waste Compositions and the total amount of generated composition wise in KMC in 2004. .....................................................................................................32 Table 3.3: Moisture Content and Calorific Value of the Waste Samples.......................33 Table 3.4: Moisture Content and the Raw Calorific Value of MSW components..........33 Table 3.5: Electricity generation from and thermal plant capacity needed for waste of KMC. ..............................................................................................................................34 Table 3.6: Budget allocated for Environment management of KMC during different fiscal years........................................................................................................................35 Table 3.7: Fertilizer cost survey in a village of Sarlahi District in 2010.........................36 Table 3.8: Fertilizer cost survey in Hetuada in 2010.......................................................36 Table 4.9: Possible unit processes, products and quality standards involved in an anaerobic digestion plant for organics solids...................................................................38 Table 4.10: Characteristics of acceptable feedstock (mix)..............................................45 Table 4.11: Mass Balance Estimate by Kompogas..........................................................48 Table 4.12: Energy balance estimated by Kompogas......................................................48 Table 6.13: Summary of Net Present Worth and Internal Rate of Return under different scenarios for KMC plant based on Kompogas Technology............................................59 Table 6.14: Summary of Net Present Worth and Internal Rate of Return under different scenarios for KMC plant based on Kompogas Technology............................................60 Table 7.15: The parameters considered and assumptions defined for performing risk analysis using Crystal Ball...............................................................................................61

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: A scheme of anaerobic digestion pathways..................................................17 Figure 4.2: Examples of unit processes commonly used in conjunction with anaerobic digesters of solid wastes...................................................................................................38 Figure 4.3: The Flow diagram of Valorga Process..........................................................40 7

Figure 4.4: Kompogas Flow Sheet...................................................................................45 Figure 5.5: An estimated mass balance for the KMC Plant based on the Valorga Technology.......................................................................................................................51 Figure 5.6: An estimated production and consumption of energy based on the Valorga Technology.......................................................................................................................52 Figure 5.7: An estimated mass balance for KMC plant based on the Kompogas Technology.......................................................................................................................53 Figure 5.8: An estimated energy balance based on the Kompogas Technology.............54 Figure 7.9: Frequency distribution chart under real scenario for Valorga based KMC Plant..................................................................................................................................62 Figure 7.10: Frequency distribution chart when KMC provides levy to the Valorga based KMC plant..............................................................................................................63 Figure 7.11: Frequency distribution chart under real scenario for Kompogas based KMC Plant........................................................................................................................64 Figure 7.12: Frequency distribution chart when KMC provides levy to the Kompogas based KMC plant..............................................................................................................64

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AD ASTM BAT BT CDRI CADDET CES CHP

Anaerobic Digestion American Standard for Test and Measurement Best Available Technology Biomethanation Technology Central Drug Research Institute Center for Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies Center for Energy Studies Combined Heat pOWER 8

CKV CV CVgross CVraw EIA ENVICO EPA g g/t VGF GTZ HHV HRT IOE IUCN kWh/t KMC KV kW kWh/d kWh/y LFS MBI MC MJ/kg MSW

Clean Kathmandu Valley Calorific Value Gross Calorific Value (Higher Heating Value) Raw Calorific Value (Lower Heating Value) Environment Impact Assessment Environmental and Resources Corporation Environmental Protection Agency gram gram per ton Garden and Fruit w\Waste German Technical Cooperation Agency Higher Heating Value Hydraulic Retention Time Institute of Engineering International Union for Conversion of Nature kilowatt-hours per ton Kathmandu Metropolitan City Kathmandu Valley kilowatt kilowatt-hours per day kilowatt-hours per year Landfill Site Mass Burn Incinerator Moisture Content Mega Joule per kilogram Municipal Solid Waste 9

MW MWh SWMRMC ST/ LFS TS U.S. EPA UGR UNEP VFA WB WTE

Mega Watt MegaWatt-hour Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilization Committee Short Term- Landfill Site Total Solid United States, Environment Protection Agency Unit Generation Rate United Nations Environment Program Volatile Fatty Acids Weight Basis Waste-to-energy

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the background, problem statement, literature review, and hypothesis and research objectives for this thesis.

1.1

Background

This sub chapter mainly deals with the origin of ideas, need for this thesis and its scope and issues left that have to be addressed or find studied. 1.1.1 The origin of ideas

Economy, energy and ecology are interrelated and must go hand in hand to ensure a sustainable prosperity of human beings. Technological innovations are continuously improving the quality of human life, which necessarily demand additional energy inputs at every stage of improvement. This ever-increasing energy demand is mostly met through consumption of non-renewable commercial fuels resulting in irreversible adverse impacts on the environment coupled with depletion of natural reserves of commercial fuels. The Nepalese economy mostly relies on expensive imports of 10

commercial fuels for industrial and urban needs, and forestry biomass for rural communities. This necessitates development of innovative technologies for exploitation of renewable energy sources to compensate the energy balance. A number of attempts are being made to harness the renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, biomass etcs. At the same time the situation of solid waste management of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the study area for this thesis, has been pathetic and unmanaged due to different seen and unseen problems and in principle due to understanding of the waste as unproductive and uneconomic resources. Hence to turn the solid waste of KMC into liability, it is very important that the waste generated here has the potential of generating positive energy and is economical as well as technically feasible. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) also called as Biomethanation technology (BT) has been perceived as a potential alternative as it not only provides renewable source of energy but also utilizes recycling potential of degradable organic portion of solid waste generated by a numerous activities sorting out the management problem faced by KMC. This study hence has envisaged making a techno-economic assessment of commercial AD technologies available. 1.1.2 Attempts so far made by others to address the issues

Solid waste was not such a big problem in the old days in the Kathmandu Valley. People in the Kathmandu Valley had their own method to get rid of their household waste, including a kind of circulation of organic waste between city and rural areas nearby. In line with increasing population in the Valley and changing life style and consumption habits, SWM (Solid Waste Management) has been increasingly recognized as one of the major environmental issues in the Valley as a result of the increasing amount of waste generated and the change of waste compositions. According to the report The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley (prepared by Nippon Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd in September 2005), the concept of landfill site (LFS) started from 1976. Regarding final disposal in 11

the Kathmandu Valley, Gokarna located a distance of 13 km from Kathmandu city core area was selected as a landfill site in 1976. After GTZs studies, Gokarna LFS commenced its service in 1986 and was being supervised by SWMRMC and KMC together. The LFS was the only official sanitary LFS at that time, and KMC and LSMC dumped almost all of their waste there. However, after the closure of Gokarna LFS in 2000 due to the opposition of the surrounding local people, final disposal could not be other than river side dumping as a temporary solution since there were no options in the form of LFSs. Following Dhobi Khola River dumping which was discontinued due its contributing bird strike problem at Tribhuvan International Airport, Bagmati River dumping by KMC and LSMC began and has been continuing for almost five years so far and also whenever there is restriction and strong oppositions from the locals. Looking ahead to the necessity of a new LFS before the closure of Gokarna LFS, SWMRMC has conducted various studies from early 1990s to develop a new LFS within the Kathmandu Valley. However, the sites identified by the studies could not be developed due to strong public opposition as well as due to technical reasons in some cases. Because of the low availability of LFSs in the Valley, the central government and IUCN jointly conducted preliminary alternative analysis as per the request of KMC, and Okharpauwa (Banchare Danda) as a long-term LFS. Then the related infrastructure development including access road construction started based on the announcement by the local government for Okharpauwa development. After closure of Gokarna LFS in 2000, the necessity of a new short-term (S/T) LFS was recognized for receiving the waste from KMC and LSMC instead of Bagmati River dumping. Due to the expected difficulty of LFS development within the Valley, Sisdol in Okharpauwa was identified by the central government as the short-term (S/T) LFS to have an immediate solution against the Bagmati River dumping. SWMRMC after conducting the necessary site preparation for Sisdol S/T-LFS, including EIA and land acquisition, on June 5, 2005, KMC and LSMC commenced disposal of part of their waste at Sisdol short-term Landfill (S/T-LF). With respect to Waste-to-energy conversion technologies, no proper study or evidence has been observed till now. So, these are the new concepts in case of KMC as well as Nepal as an option for waste management and energy extraction in the municipalities. 12

1.1.3

Issues left

As the waste characterization and quantification has been done in general, the eligible components for AD (Anaerobic Digestion) have not been analyzed till now. How much of energy can be exploited from this conversion technologies and whether this technology is feasible technically and economically has still been a question? For estimating the preliminary amount of energy, it is very important that the calorific value of the wastes is determined. Moreover, proximate and ultimate analysis need to be done to know the carbon, hydrogen, moisture content, ash content for approximate energy assessment and to find the theoretical energy that can be obtained and hence the technology that can be used for conversion. Neither detailed assessment and availability of AD technology nor its economics in context of KMC has been studied. The environmental impact, social impact and regarding the abatement of greenhouse gas emission are few issues that has not also been observed or studied. 1.1.4

Scope of the work

Study area within KMC, Characterization and quantification of solid waste of KMC, Determination of the Calorific Value and moisture content of waste, Two case studies of best available commercial technology based on Anaerobic Digestion Systems, Technical and technological analysis based mainly on the results of laboratory values and mass and energy balance and its feasibility in KMC and

The economical analysis based on the available and current parameters. Rationale in brief

1.1.5

The techno-economic assessment would provide an understanding of the viability of AD technology which in turn would provide a waste management option diverting wastes from landfill and at the same time it would save a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, since these recovers energy from waste which usually 13

replaces an equivalent amount of energy generated from fossil fuels. Moreover, insignificant, uneconomic and unproductive waste, the earlier perception of the stakeholders and the public about the waste will be changed to as a valuable source for economic generation and energy. If implemented successfully, these renewable energy technologies would help to manage the current problem of waste disposal at KMC which in turn improve environment of city and also enhance power supply. When the country has been suffering from a chronic shortage of electricity load shedding and power outage are common phenomena experienced by the electricity consumers of KMC as well as rest of the country which has been the detriment of economic activities and growth, the outcomes of the study would encourage the stakeholders to adopt these technologies for MSW management and generation of electricity. The improved municipal management and environment as a result can accelerate economic growth in view of the expanding role of the urban sector of the economy. This study is justified on the following grounds:

The lack of study about the waste as a resource for the electricity and hence economic generation would not motivate stakeholders and investors for its utilization.

Lack of study on technical and economical study will never motivate the stakeholders to adopt new technology.

1.2

Problem statement

Rapid urbanization of municipalities has resulted into increased urban wastes and they are also making water polluted, which could be a major problem in near future which has been considered trifling problem till now though. Moreover waste management is the most problematic and expensive responsibility of Municipality. Though large chunks of KMC budget i.e. 18% of the total (according to the Rabin Man Shrestha, Chief Environment Management Department Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, Nepal) are expended on SWM, sustainable management is not achieved yet.

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The major cause behind all these problems is due to lack of understanding of waste at principle. At the current situation, intense competition over natural resources has rendered waste as one of the economic resource for electricity generation. A choice of appropriate technology for generating electric energy from MSW of KMC should have to be based on examination of all available and relevant technologies on the field. Many WTE conversion options such as landfill, composting, anaerobic digestion, mass burn incinerator, fluidized bed incinerator, gasifier, plasma gasifier which are seen technically and economically feasible (Yang and Li, 2002). Except landfill, composting, and anaerobic digestion all the others are thermal conversion technologies. In that case, it is important to know whether these technologies are suitable for processing the waste generated in KMC. After KMCs problematic landfill use and unsuccessful composting tried at Teku Transfer Station, Kathmandu, can the anaerobic digestion technology be technically and economically feasible. For that it becomes necessary to know the physical properties and the energy content of the generated waste, suitability of anaerobic digestion technology, land availability for installation and economical viability of this technology.

1.3

Literature review

This topic mainly deals with the literature surveyed while conducting this study. 1.3.1 Waste as a Source of Energy

In the traditional sense, renewable sources of energy are those that nature can regrow, such as wood, crops, or other plants (biomass), that are available through the Earths unique physical set-up, such as wind, water, and solar radiation. However, the term biomass often includes one manmade good that is the byproduct of industrialization: waste. The U.S. EPA repeatedly called MSW renewable. Although it is desirable to minimize the amount of waste during production and distribution of goods, it is almost certain that a minimum quantity of waste will be generated. Because it is believed that the global community will continue to produce industrial products, there will be a continuous stream of new waste, which therefore could be considered to replenish the previously generated garbage.

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1.3.2

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is the breakdown of organic material by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. Although this takes place naturally within a landfill, the term normally describes an artificially accelerated operation in closed vessels, resulting in a relatively stable solid residue. Biogas is generated during anaerobic digestion (AD) mostly methane and carbon dioxide - this gas can be used as a chemical feedstock or as a fuel. Anaerobic digestion can treat many biodegradable wastes, including wastes that are unsuitable for composting, such as meat and cooked food. 1.3.3 Reactions of Anaerobic Digestion

AD is a collection of many biological reactions occurring in the absence of oxygen. In reality, the biological pathways of the process depend on the concentration and nature of the substrate, bacteria and surrounding conditions. As shown schematically in Figure 1.1, AD takes place in three stages: hydrolysis, acidogenesis/acetogenesis and methanogenesis (Baldwin, Lau, and Wang, 2009). During the hydrolysis stage, complex organic polymers are broken down into their monomer intermediates: sugars, amino acids and volatile fatty acids (VFA). During acetogenesis, these intermediates are converted into acetate (acetic acid) with CO2 and hydrogen as by-products. Finally in the methanogenesis stage, hydrogen and acetate are converted into CH4 and CO2. Table 1.1 is a brief summary of the main reactants and products during each phase. In general, the microorganisms involved in hydrolysis and acetogenesis grow more rapidly than the microorganisms involved in methanogenesis. As a result, methanogenesis tends to be the rate-limiting step. However, for some materials, such as grasses and newsprint, which contain more recalcitrant celluloses, hydrolysis may be very slow and become rate-limiting (Baldwin, Lau and Wang, 2009).

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Figure 1.1: A scheme of anaerobic digestion pathways Source: Development of a Calculator for the Techno-economic Assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Systems

Table 1.1: Reactants and products involved in the three phases of anaerobic digestion Reactants Products Organic materials Sugars, amino acids, volatile fatty acids (VFAs) Sugars, amino acids, CH3COOH (acetic acid), alcohols, CO2, H2 CO2, H2 CH3COOH VFAs Methanogenesis CH3COOH CH4, CO2 CO2, H2 CH4 Source: Development of a Calculator for the Techno-economic Assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Systems 1.3.4 Digesters Phase Hydrolysis Acetogenesis

Digesters can be categorised by dry or wet systems below 15 percent dry solids is termed wet. Also digesters can operate within two temperature ranges, either at 350C (mesophilic) or 550C (thermophilic). Some are loaded in batches while others have continuous feed. On completion of the process digesters are emptied leaving 10-15 percent behind as a seed culture for the next batch. Various AD processes have been 17

developed, operating at different temperatures, moisture levels and speeds. The purity of material fed into the AD process determines the quality of the end product. Some plants are designed to remove as many other materials as possible (for example, ferrous metals) before digestion. Others are designed to optimise gas collection for energy production and a soil conditioner may not be their main objective. Others might optimise the horticultural product, regarding energy of secondary importance. All of the processes share a common approach where shredded materials and water are held in a reactor for 6-25 days at a constant temperature between 35 and 550C. Wet continuous digestion Waste is slurried with a large proportion of water to give a feedstock of 10 percent dry solids. Glass and stones must be removed to prevent them accumulating in the bottom of the reactor. This method can be used for co-digestion of biodegradable waste with sewage sludge. Multi-stage wet digestion There are a range of multi-stage wet digestion processes which take municipal solid waste and add to recycled liquor. The mixture is fermented by micro-organisms to release volatile fatty acids. These are then converted to gas in a specialised high-rate industrial digester. Dry batch digestion Waste is fed into the reactor with digested material from another reactor and then the digester is sealed. Leachate is collected from the bottom and is re-circulated to distribute nutrients and micro organisms and maintain even moisture levels. Leach-bed process Similar to the dry batch method, but once the third stage of methanogenesis is reached the reactor is connected to a fresh batch of waste in a second reactor. Dry continuous digestion

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Waste is fed continuously into a digestion reactor with 20-40 percent dry matter. The process of anaerobic digestion in a digester takes about 35 days, which compares favourably with a landfill site which may remain active for 35 years producing methane and leachates which can harm the environment. 1.3.5 Digestate use

Digestate is the residual fibrous material left at the end of processing. End-use ranges from landfill cover, landspread for agriculture or the production of a high quality soil conditioner after an additional maturation process. The quality of the original input biowaste determines the quality of the digestate at the end of the process. The efficiency of the source-separation systems is important as the contamination of the biowaste with potentially toxic chemicals and too many non-biodegradable inclusions will be apparent in the final product. The presence of heavy metals severely limits its eventual use. The digestate produced by most operational plants is destined for use as a soil conditioner and most have a useful level of nutrients resulting in less demand for inorganic fertilisers. There is also evidence that using digestate on land has the benefit of suppressing normal pathogen and parasite levels. Depending on the quality of the original feedstock, digester residue can be used for landfill cover or further matured into a compost product. 1.3.6 Biogas

During the process of anaerobic digestion the organic wastes produce biogas. This is composed largely of methane (55-70%) and carbon dioxide (30-45%). Methane is a greenhouse gas thirty times more damaging than the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. The quality of the biogas produced from AD affects its final usefulness. The main concern in this context is the presence of hydrogen sulphide which occurs as a metabolic bi-product of sulphur-reducing bacteria in the digester. Hydrogen sulphide can rapidly corrode the gas-handling and electricity generating equipment in the plant.

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Table 1.2: Typical Biogas composition Methane 55-70 % by volume Carbon dioxide 30-45 % by volume Hydrogen sulphide 200-4000 ppm by volume Energy content of AD gas product 20-25 MJ/m3 Energy content of CH4 per ton MSW 167-373MJ/ton MSW Source: Reference: Regional Information Service Centre for South East Asia on Appropriate Technology (RISE-AT) (Nov 1998), Review of current status of Anaerobic Digestion Technology for treatment of MSW. If one tonne of putrescible food waste consists of 77 percent water and 23 percent solids, the digester will convert approximately 75 percent of the solids to biogas. The maximum possible yield of biogas in is 400m3, but in practice is nearer to 100m3. This has an energy value of around 21-28 MJ/m3. Between 20 - 50 percent of the energy produced will be used to run the plant. Biogas may be used directly or as a replacement fuel for kilns, boilers and furnaces located close to the AD site. If the gas is used in power generation gas clean-up is required to remove corrosive trace gases, moisture and vapours. 1.3.7 Process liquor

There has been a focus on the digestate and biogas production from AD but the process liquor is often overlooked. There are however environmental considerations and costs to be considered with the generation of contaminated water. Some process liquor is used to re-wet incoming biowaste as it contains useful bacterial populations. This method can produce a faster reaction then the original start-up. If all the liquor was recycled in this way however, the concentration of contaminants would become too high. Excess liquor can be disposed of in three ways: discharge, landfill or landspreading. Discharge is the simplest but it may be expensive to achieve environmental standards required by regulators. Limits on certain chemical components are likely to be in place. Discharge into the sewerage system is more likely to be permitted than to a water course. AD process

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liquors can be very polluting and treatments may include aeration de-nitrification and reverse osmosis techniques. A major area of concern is the heavy metal content particularly when considering application to land, and also nitrogen and phosphorous content. Haulage charges for transporting contaminated water to disposal may be a third of the total transport and disposal fee. 1.3.8 Biogas Yields and Power Generation

The biogas yield primarily depends on the type of feed. Most commonly used feeds for AD are animal manures from cattle, hog and poultry, crop residues as well as corn and grass silage. Organic wastes from food processing, restaurants, fish processing, slaughterhouse, sewage sludge (biosolids) and the organic fraction of municipal waste may also be used as feeds for AD. Table 3 shows the biogas generation potential of substrates, as compiled from Preusser (2006) and Electrigaz (2007), which are similar to the information provided in the Wisconsin Agricultural Biogas Casebook (Baldwin, Lau and Wang, 2009). According to Birse (1999), these values should only be used as indicative values. The biogas yields of food and yard wastes can be considerably higher than the biogas yields of animal wastes (Baldwin, Lau and Wang, 2009). Table 1.3: Biogas yields (lab-scale and pilot-scale AD studies)

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Source: Source: Development of a Calculator for the Techno-economic Assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Systems A large number of papers have been published in the past several decades dealing with the performance of different reactor configurations digesting and co-digesting organic solid wastes. According to Jerger and Tsao (1987), the theoretical CH4 yields (about 60% of biogas yields) due to the action of most microbial species are similar, with a value of about 0.5 m3 CH4/kg VS added. Biogas yield data based on actual observations or monitoring records have been compiled and shown in Table 1.3 for lab-scale and pilot-scale studies and in Table 1.4 for full-scale systems. This information is not meant to be exhaustive, though these may be considered as representative values. Kelleher (2007) cited results obtained from studies by various researchers on the biodegradation of MSW components in lab-scale landfills; kitchen waste (TS 30%) and yard waste (TS 22

40%) have biogas yield of 113 m3/ton and 34 m3/ton, respectively. Ward et al. (2008) conducted a review of the AD of agricultural resources and compiled the CH4 producing potential of a wide range of substrates. Regardless of the scale of study, it is quite clear that animal manures provide lower yields while food processing wastes, especially fats oil and grease, provide higher yields. Table 1.4: Biogas yield full-scale AD studies

Source: Development of a Calculator for the Techno-economic Assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Systems Gregerson et al. (1999) reported that at the time in Denmark, approximately 75% of the biomass resource was manure mostly in the form of slurry, whereas the remaining biomass was waste that mainly originated from food processing industries. In these biogas plants, manure and organic waste were mixed and digested in AD tanks for a 23

hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12 - 25 days. The biogas produced was cleaned and normally utilized in CHP plants. The biogas yields from some of the 20 systems installed between 1984 and 1998 are shown in Table 1.4. The biogas yield ranged from 23 to 92 m3/ton biomass (wet mass basis). 1.3.9 Energy use

Whereas composting is an energy-consuming process, requiring 50-75 kilowatt-hours per tonne (kWh/t) MSW input, AD is a net energy-producing process (75-150 kWh/t MSW). The amount of energy required to run a digester is directly related to the moisture content of the feedstock. High-moisture systems use more heat but require less electricity to circulate the fluid digestate. Anaerobic digestion requires an additional 15kWh/ton of energy in comparison to aerobic composting plants. 1.3.10 Odour Several aerobic plants have been closed or put under constant review due to odour complaints. In anaerobic systems most volatile components are broken down by bacteria in the digester. A study has shown that whereas 588g/t of volatile organics were produced in aerobic composting, only 3g/t were produced in an anaerobic system. 1.3.11 Economics of AD The capital investment required for a modern AD plant are less than those of an energy from waste plant but similar to those of a materials reclamation facility (MRF). Experience in Europe suggests that a plant which can handle up to 15-20,000 tpa is the smallest scale which will be financially viable. High costs are imposed by the superior technical requirements to provide adequate gas seals to prevent air ingress, safe gas handling and internal environmental controls and monitoring techniques, such as the detection of very low levels of concentrations of hydrogen (an intermediate product). When the digestion process is complete the digester is emptied and 10 15 percent may be left behind as a starter for the next batch.

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1.3.12 Problems Anaerobic digestion is relatively expensive and requires a major capital investment. Waste water from the process may contain a high concentration of metals, nitrogen and organic materials. Because of the complex association of different types of bacteria, digesters have a higher risk of breakdown and may be difficult to control. The variable nature of the waste may be a problem for AD plants. In summer households produce more organic kitchen wastes and grass clippings, while in autumn prunings and woody materials predominate. 1.3.13 Approaches to determine Calorific Value There are several experimental and empirical approaches available for determining the calorifc value (CV) of materials such as MSW. Calorimetric measurement is the common method for determining the energy content of MSW. One method of determining the CV of a given material is by means of an open calorimeter in which pressure is maintained at 1 atmosphere. Under constant pressure conditions, the heat released is equal to the enthalpy change for the reaction. Another type of calorimeter is the bomb calorimeter in which combustion is conducted under conditions of constant volume. Regarding the empirical approaches, there are three types of models that are used to predict CV values based on the following analyses: Physical composition Ultimate analysis Proximate analysis

The physical composition analysis is based on the levels of different components of the solid waste matrix, such as plastics, paper and garbage. The ultimate analysis of waste typically involves determination of the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur contents, while the proximate analysis includes an assessment of the levels of moisture, volatile combustible matter, fixed carbon and ash. Because MSW is a heterogeneous material 25

and its production rate and physical composition vary from place to place as they are a function of socio-economic level and climatic conditions (Abu-Qadis, et al), the energy content of one country will be different from that of another.

1.4

Hypothesis

There are two municipal solid waste-to-energy schemes that could be adopted in Nepal depending upon the initial literature review of the waste characteristics: incineration with electricity recovery and anaerobic digestion in which electricity and fertilizer are produced. To be promoted as effective methods of solid waste management in terms of environmental soundness and energy saving, a techno-economic assessment needs to be performed. But according to The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley (prepared by Nippon Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd in September 2005) the moisture content is in the high range of 60-75% and the SWMRMC Act, 1987 prohibits the use of incinerator except the incineration of hazardous waste. Hence, of the two technologies, AD which has been successful in a smaller scale for Nepal could be an option for energy recovery and hence waste management. This thesis hypothesizes with the available commercial AD technologies; the waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion using this technology will be technically and economically feasible.

1.5

Research objective

This topic deals with the objectives has been set for the study after the literature survey and the need for this thesis. 1.5.1 Main Objective:

To perform a techno-economic assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Technology 1.5.2

Specific Objectives: To quantify and characterize the eligible components of the Municipal Solid Waste of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. To determine calorific value and moisture content of the MSW To estimate the amount of green energy from MSW 26

To perform two case studies of AD based technologies. To estimate mass and energy balance for KMC plant based on the case studies and hence technical feasibility of it. To do economic analysis of KMC plant based on AD technology that would be implemented in Kathmandu.

CHAPTERE TWO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the methodology used, research tools needed and assumptions and limitations considered while carrying out this research.

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1.6

Research methods

This thesis is mainly based on quantitative and partly experimental analysis. Quantitative method is used to carry out waste characterization, quantification, energy recovery, mass and energy balance, and economic analysis whereas experimental method is used to determine the calorific value, ash percentage and moisture content in the lab.

1.7

Research tools

This study is conducted by using research tools: literature survey, experiments, and statistical techniques using Microsoft excel 2007 and Crystal Ball. 1.7.1 Literature Survey

The secondary data is used for the estimation of the volume of waste and characterization by literature survey and also the relevant Journals and other available documents have been reviewed and assessed for Anaerobic Digestion technologies. 1.7.2 Quantification and Characterization of Wastes of KMC

The study is carried out for Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The data relevant to this study for characterization and quantification of eligible components of MSW was collected from different sources such as Kathmandu Municipal Corporation (KMC), and Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilization Committee (SWMRMC). Mainly The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley (prepared by Nippon Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd in September 2005) has been followed throughout the study for this purpose. 1.7.3 Sampling for Determination of Calorific Value and Moisture

Content of MSW Analysis done during this study based on the report The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley depicts that the major portion of the waste constitutes organic and other constituents are minimal with respect to the organic portion. Hence, Judgment Sampling, based on ASTM D487-95-2006, was used to collect samples for determining the calorific value and moisture content of the MSW. In 28

total five commingle samples of organic portion of MSW were obtained from the Teku Transfer Station. 1.7.4 Proximate analysis

Proximate analysis is mainly used for determining moisture content in the samples. Five samples collected were brought immediately with proper care to the lab where these were used to obtain moisture content in accordance with the procedures of ASTM 949. 1.7.5 Determination of Calorific value

Same samples were ground using electrical mixer separately. The ground samples were then used in Parr Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter to determine the calorific value of each sample. All the samples were mixed to get one more sample which was also used to determine the CV of the mixed samples. ASTM D468-02-2007 procedures were used for determining the CV of MSW. CV determined from this calorimeter was gross or upper value embedded in it. The raw or lower CV was obtained using the following empirical formula

Where, CV MC H = calorific value (raw is real as delivered value, gross is value for dried material) in MJ/kg = % moisture content (by weight) = % Hydrogen content (Shaine, Martin and Eric et al).

The calorific value of each samples found in the sampled waste was obtained with the help of Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter in accordance with the ASTM D 468-02-2007. 1.7.6 Techno-economic Assessment

The technologies for Anaerobic Digestion are assessed. These technologies are assessed on the basis of different parameters: availability of technology, financial analysis, revenue generation, effective waste to energy conversion, social impact analysis.

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1.8

Assumptions and limitations

The study will be conducted within Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley conducted by The study on the solid waste management for the Kathmandu valley (prepared by Nippon Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd in September 2005) team will be the basis for the quantification and characterization of the wastes of KMC. The samples have been taken at Teku transfer station. Technical and economical analyses are based on the two case studies. The thesis assumes that whatever wastes gets generated is used by the KMC plant.

CHAPTER THREE RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter deals with all the results obtained during this study and the discussions on the results.

1.9

Site Visit (Teku Transfer Station in KMC)

Katmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the capital of Nepal, covers about 53 sq. km area and politically divided into 35 wards. The 2001 National Census has estimated the 30

population of the KMC to be 741,008 (CBS, 2002) with the annual average growth rate of 4.67%.The KMC is responsible to collect the waste from the street and containers and transfer to the Teku Transfer Station (TTS) before transferring to the final dumping site. The Teku Transfer Station covers an area of 150mx100m and receives 308 tons of waste per day. Two loaders, four guards, and two administrative officers are employed at this location.

1.10

Waste Quantities and Characteristics

A prerequisite for the successful implementation of any solid waste management plan is the availability of information on the composition and quantities of solid waste generated. Table 3.1 Total amount of Waste Generated in Kathmandu Metropolitan City Average generated quantity Municipalities Population Year 2004 2015 2004 (tons/day) 2015 KMC 741,008 1,055,591 308.4 547.9 LSMC 180,397 260,790 75.1 135.4 BKM 80,476 117,380 25.5 46.2 MTM 53,853 83,696 14.3 27.8 KRM 43,424 54,400 11.6 18.1 Total 5 municipalities 1,099,158 1,571,857 434.9 775.4 Source: Nippon Koei Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd, 2005 Waste generation trends are driven by several factors, such as economic activity, demographic changes, technological innovations, life-style and patterns of production and consumption (Oliga and Katica, 2008). Municipal unit generation rate has been taken as the product of household unit generation rate and additional index. The unit generation rate of solid waste is estimated at 0.416 kg/day-capita in KMC. Increase in the household increases the population of the city and hence waste generation. Without measures for source reduction, the annual increase in unit waste generation is 2.6% (Nippon Koei Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd, 2005). The total amount of waste quantity generated in KMC is as shown in Table 3.1.

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In 2004, the total amount of waste generated in five municipalities is 434.9 tons/day of which KMC is the dominant waste generator with approximately 71% i.e. 308.4 tons/day of the total waste generated. If the waste is generated in future with an annual increasing rate higher than 2%, say as much as 5%, the total daily generation quantity from KMC is estimated to be more than 700 tons in 2015. The annual waste generation rate of KMC is estimated to be 112,566 tons. Table 3.2: Overall Waste Compositions and the total amount of generated composition wise in KMC in 2004. Waste Components KMC % by weight Waste Generated (tons/day) Organic 70 216 Paper 9 27.8 Plastic 9 27.8 Glass 3 9.25 Metals 1 3.08 Textile 3 9.25 Rubber/leather 1 3.08 Others 4 12.3 Total 100 308 Source: Nippon Koei Co. Ltd and Yachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd, 2005 Table 3.2 shows the physical composition and the typical percentage distribution of MSW components in KMC. It can be noted that the major fraction of the solid waste generated is organic, paper and plastics. Organic wastes (70% of the total waste generated in KMC) include all kitchen waste, garbage, commercial etc. The other significant constituents are plastic and paper with equal percentage of 9%. The amount of organic component constituted the majority with generation of 216 kg/day in year 2004.

1.11

Calorific Value of the MSW

The upper calorific value is the gross energy content including the energy that is necessary to evaporate the moist content. In practice, this value is relatively uninteresting for incineration, gasification or pyrolysis. The lower heating value is

32

important, because this is the energy content, which can be utilized for the production of thermal and electrical power. Table 3.3: Moisture Content and Calorific Value of the Waste Samples. Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6(mixed) Average Moisture content (% WB) 82.14 69.41 66.22 61.71 76.97 71.29 71.29 CVgross (MJ/kg) 13.26 17.02 18.48 11.40 16.89 13.16 15.04 CVraw (MJ/kg) 0.13 3.11 4.18 2.36 1.71 1.66 2.19 Source: Lab Results,2009

The Table 3.3 shows MC and CV of the samples of the waste. The maximum and minimum moisture content is estimated to be 82.14% and 61.71% by wet basis but in average it is estimated to be around 71.29%. These conditions are typical in many developing countries (Savage et al., 1998). The relatively high moisture content of the MSW may lead to a reduction in the calorific value of the MSW (Abu-Qudais and Abu Qdais, 2000). The CVgross of the samples ranges from 11.40 to 18.48 MJ/kg (dry basis) whereas the CVraw ranges from 0.13 to 4.18 MJ/kg. In average, the moisture content is found to be 71.29% and CVgross and CVraw to be 15.04 MJ/kg (dry basis) and 2.19 MJ/kg respectively. Similarly, Table 3.4 shows the components of MSW and their corresponding CV which can be utilized for the generation of energy in the thermal facility. As the major portion of MSW is organic, the CV obtained from the lab also represents for the same. The estimated CVraw of the organic portion at 68% MC is found to be 3MJ/kg. The CVs of the other components of MSW being similar have been taken from the literatures. Table 3.4: Moisture Content and the Raw Calorific Value of MSW components. Waste components Organic Paper Plastic Moisture content (%WB) 68 7 10 33 CVraw, MJ/kg 3 14.9 32.8 Remarks for CV Estimated Literature*

Glass NA 0 Metals NA 0 Textile 26.8 10.6 Rubber/leather <1 41 Others NA NA NA Source: Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, volume-1 published by United Nation Environment Programme.

1.12

Theoretical Energy Calculations derived from MSW

These calculations are based on the assumption that 112566 tons of MSW per annum (308.4 t/d) are generated from KMC which is sorted and utilized in a thermal treatment facility. The calculation doesnt include plastic, metal, glass, others. Table 3.5: Electricity generation from and thermal plant capacity needed for waste of KMC. Waste components Organic Paper Textile Rubber/leather Total Energy Content, kWh/y 65663500 41930835 12663675 12820017 133078027 Electricity generation, Plant Capacity,

kWh/y kW 16415875 1874 10482709 1197 3165919 361 3205004 366 33269507 3798 Source: Author's calculation based on lab results.

The study has not taken into consideration the non combustible parts of MSW like glass, plastic and metal. As shown in Table 3.5 organic and the paper are the main two waste combustible parts from which 65,663,500 and 41,930,835 kWh per year of energy can be extracted respectively of which 16,415,875 kWh per year 10,482,709 kWh per year respectively. In total 33,269,507 kWh per day of thermal energy is available and from it in total 33,269,507 kWh per year electricity can be production assuming the overall efficiency to be 25%. As the table shows, the plant capacity of 3798 kW will be needed for exploiting the generated municipal solid waste.

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1.13

Budget Allocation for SWM of KMC

The budget allocation for all types of waste and environment management comes under the heading of Environment Management. According to the KMC annual report, 2009 most of the budget allocated under this heading is expended for solid waste management. So, in a sense the budget has been allocated for SWM. The increment in EM budget shows the stakeholders concerns over the waste management issue. Table 3.6 provides summary of budget allocated during different fiscal year for EM. The increment in budget during fiscal year 08/09 and 09/10 is similar whereas between fiscal year 06/07 and 07/08, there has been an increment by almost 13%. Hence, the average budget increment has been estimated to be 12.63%. Table 3.6: Budget allocated for Environment management of KMC during different fiscal years Fiscal year 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 KMC Budget for Environment Management Expenditure, Rs (in crores) Increment percentages Average 19.70 20.48 3.98% 12.63% 24.61 16.79% 29.69 17.11% Source: http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/uploads/bud-66-67.pdf, 2010

1.14

Preliminary Survey for Cost of Fertilizers (Compost)

The selling price of compost, according to the presentation by Mr. Rabin Man Singh in 2009, Chief Environment Management Department, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, has been Rs 10 per kg since 2003. However, any documented evidence couldnt be found regarding its selling price. The slaughter house composting unit at Marutol in Kathmandu situated at the bank of Bishnumati despite producing compost since long time (date couldnt be figured out due to unavailability of authorized person) hasnt sold any amount of compost. While in the survey done in different places indicate that the compost can be sold in better price if it is well proved. The current selling price of fertilizer as shown in Table 3.1 and 3.2 in Sarlahi district and Hetauda are approximately Rs 2 and Rs 4. However

35

according to the sellers at Hetuada, the demand of proven compost or such fertilizer is higher and can be sold in better price than estimated. Table 3.7: Fertilizer cost survey in a village of Sarlahi District in 2010 Type of compost Gothe Mal called Gowa locally Cost for a bullock cart of Gowa (Compost) Rs 1000 Weight of Gowa per bullock cart, kg 500 cost per kg, Rs 2

Source: Based on author Survey, 2010 Table 3.8: Fertilizer cost survey in Hetuada in 2010 Types of compost Gothe mal Compost Cost of a Bora (Sack) in Rs 120-140 Approximate weight of compost in a bora (Sack), kg 25-40 Average weight, kg 32.5 Rs/kg (average) 4

Source: Based on author Survey, 2010

CHAPTER FOUR CASE STUDIES OF AD BASED TECHNOLOGY

The literature on anaerobic digestion of MSW appears confusing and difficult to summarize. The reason is that it is hard to find papers with similar experimental setups. In fact, it is precisely the appropriateness of a given reactor design for the 36

treatment of particular organic wastes which forms the focus of most research papers. The comparison of research data and drawing of conclusions is difficult because the reactor designs differ largely on variability of waste composition and choice of operational parameters (retention time, solids content, mixing, recirculation, inoculation, number of stages, temperature, etc) (details in Appendix A). And hence there exists only empirical knowhow for the optimal reactor design to treat municipal solids and it is also due to the complexity of biochemical pathways, the novelty and varieties in the technologies. For designing the reactor (digester) for AD, the feedstock should be mainly organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) sorted mechanically in central plants or organics separated at the source, referred to here as the organic components in MSW of KMC. Hence while designing the reactor; the need for specific pre- or post-treatment unit processes becomes very important. Necessary pre-treatment steps may include magnetic separation, comminution in a rotating drum or shredder, screening, pulping, gravity separation or pasteurization. As post-treatment steps, the typical sequence involves mechanical dewatering, aerobic maturation, and water treatment but possible alternatives exist such as biological dewatering or wet mechanical separation schemes wherein various products may be recovered as shown in Figure 4.1. A plant treating municipal solids anaerobically is therefore best seen as a complex train of unit processes whereby wastes are transformed into a dozen products. Appropriate rating of given reactor designs should therefore also address the quantity and quality of these products (Table 10) as well as the need for additional pre- and post-treatments. These considerations are often decisive factors for the election of a technology for an actual project.

37

Figure 4.2: Examples of unit processes commonly used in conjunction with anaerobic digesters of solid wastes. Source: Biomethanization of OFMSW

Table 4.9: Possible unit processes, products and quality standards involved in an anaerobic digestion plant for organics solids. Unit Processes PRETREATMENT Reusable Products 38 Standards or Criteria

- Magnetic separation - Size reduction (drum or shredder) - Pulping withngravity separation - Drum screening - Pasteurization DIGESTION - Hydrolysis - Methanogenesis - Biogas valorization POST-TREATMENT - Mechanical dewatering - Aerobic stabilization or Biological dewatering - Water treatment - Biological dewatering - Wet separation

- Ferrous metals

- Organic impurities - Comminution of paper, cardboard and bags

- Heavy inerts reused as construction material - Coarse fraction, plastics

- Organic impurities - Calorific value - Germs kill off

- Biogas - Electricity Heat (steam)

- Norms nitrogen, sulfur - 150 - 300 kWhe/ton 250 - 500 kWhheat/ton - Load on water treatment

- Compost - Water - Compost - Sand, Fibres (peat) Sludge

- Norm s soil amendments - Disposal norms - Norm s soil amendments - Organic impurities Norms potting media Calorific value Source: Biomethanization of OFMSW

About 90 % of the full-scale plants currently in use in Europe for anaerobic digestion of OFMSW and biowastes rely on one-stage systems and these are approximately evenly split between 'wet' and 'dry' operating conditions (De Baere, 1999). But this industrial trend has not been followed by the scientific literature, which reports as many investigations on two-, multi-stage or batch systems as on one-stage systems. A likely reason for this difference is that two- and multi-stage systems afford more possibilities to the researcher to control and investigate the intermediate steps of the digestion process. Industrialists, on the other hand, prefer one-stage systems because simpler designs suffer less frequent technical failures and have smaller investment costs. Biological performance of one-stage systems is, for most organic wastes, as high as that 39

of two-stage systems, provided the reactor is well designed and operating conditions carefully chosen (Weiland, 1992). This thesis therefore has performed two case studies but focussed mainly on the commercial based KOMPOGAS AD technology available in the market. Using this study, the techno-economic assessment of Hypothetical KMC plant has been performed.

1.15

Valorga Technology Water Treatment

Waste Reception & Pre-treatment

Anaerobic Digestion

Biogas Utilization

Compost Curing
Figure 4.3: The Flow diagram of Valorga Process

Air Treatment

Source: The Anaerobic Digestion and the Valorga Process, Jan 1999, Literature and brochures of the company. The processes used in Valorga technology (VT), a German company, was initially designed to treat organic MSW and was later adapted to the treatment of mixed MSW, biowaste (source separated household waste), and grey waste (organic residual fraction after biowaste collection). The basic Valorga process plant (Figure 4.2) consists of essentially six units: waste reception, preparation unit, AD, compost curing, biogas utilization, air treatment, and 40

an optional water treatment unit (when effluent is not treated in municipal wastewater treatment plant). The reception unit has a scale for weighing the trucks bringing in the organic materials. The waste is unloaded in a closed pit equipped with a foul air collection system. The feed material passes through an electromechanical system, designed according to the waste to be treated, that includes plastic bag opening and size reduction equipment. The waste is then conveyed and fed continuously to the AD unit. In the AD unit, the waste is mixed with re-circulated leachate into a thick sludge of about 20-35% solids content, depending on the type of waste. Therefore, the water requirement is minimal. The digester operates either in the mesophilic range or the thermophilic range. The Valorga digesters are concrete vertical cylinders of about 20 meters height and 10 meters internal diameter. They are designed so as to maintain plug flow through the reactor. They are equipped with a vertical partition in the center that extends over 2/3 of the diameter and over the full height of the reactor. This inner partition minimizes shortcircuiting of the sludge and ensures plug flow through the entire volume of the reactor. The orifices for introducing feed and removing digestate are located on either side of the inner wall. Mixing of the fermenting material is provided by a pneumatic system i.e. biogas at high pressure is injected through orifices at the bottom of the reactor and the energy of the rising bubbles serves to mix the sludge. There are no mechanical parts and maintenance consists of periodic cleaning of the nozzles at the bottom of the digester. The digested material exiting the reactor goes through a filter press that separates the compost material from the leachate solution. The leachate is reused for diluting incoming waste and any excess is transferred to the water treatment unit or the municipal sewage network. The filter cake is transferred to composting piles where it is subjected to curing in a closed building for about two weeks. Stones and other inert materials are removed. The compost product is considered to be of high quality and is sold as soil conditioner.

41

The biogas produced is used to generate electricity and steam or is fed to the city gas network. The biofilters and the water treatment facilities ensure that the Valorga plants control all air and water emissions and meet local regulations. 1.15.1 The Valorga plant at Tilburg, Netherlands The Tilburg plant began its operation in 1994 and treats primarily vegetable, garden and fruit waste (VGF). The plant capacity is rated at 52000 tons/year of VGF, or 40000 tons VGF plus 6000 tons of non-reusable paper and cardboard. A central refuse treatment company collects and separates municipal waste from the participating 20 municipalities. The feed consists of 75% kitchen and garden waste and 25% paper, cardboard. The annual rate of MSW generation in the Netherlands is nearly 450 kg per capita. Thus, the estimated amount of VGF generated by the Tiburg population of 380,000 is 64,000 tons of VGF per year. The plant consists of two digesters, each of 3300m3 capacity, and produces 2.8 million m3 of methane per year (70m3/ton). The waste is sheared to less than 10cm particles before being fed to digestion unit. The retention time in this plant is 20 days at a mesophilic temperature of 380C. The biogas production can be up to 106 m3 per ton of waste, some of which is pressurized and pumped back into the reactor to improve mixing. The biogas product is piped to an upgrading plant, where it is refined to natural gas quality and then supplied to the municipal network. The biogas contains 56% CH4 and has a calorific value of about 20 MJ/m3 while the refined gas contains 31.7 MJ/m3 (Verma, 2002). Gas refining consists of compressing, cooling, scrubbing, and drying. The methane gas after undergoing refining is fed to the municipal grid. The Tilburg facility highlights the technical and economic feasibility of using energy from waste in the form of biogas to generate electricity. The compost product amounts to 28000 tons/year and is reported to be of high quality for agricultural use. A technical report produced by the Center for Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies (CADDET) analyzed the economic and environmental performance of the Tilburg facility between 1994 and 1999. CADDET reported that the natural gas yield was about 50m3/ton. The net yield of natural gas, i.e. after providing for heating 42

and electrical energy for the plant, was 1,360,000 m3 of methane per year, i.e. about 34 m3 of methane per ton of organic material processed. The economic analysis by CADDET reported that the capital investment for the Tilburg plant was equivalent to $17,500,000. This corresponds to $440 per yearly ton processed currently or $146,000 per daily ton of capacity. For comparison, the capital cost of a large size Waste-to-Energy plant (combustion of MSW) amounts to about $120,000 per daily ton of MSW processed (Verma, 2002). The main sources of revenue of this plant are the tipping fees paid by the municipalities for waste treatment and the sale of natural gas. Between 1994 and1999, the average fee for waste treatment was $90/ton resulting in the average annual revenue of $3,600,000 per year. Assuming an average gas price of $0.06/m3 (CADDET, 1998), the gas revenues were $81,600 per year. Assuming administrative and operating personnel of twenty and an average wage and benefits cost of $40,000 per person, the labor cost is estimated at $800,000. Assuming an equal amount for all other costs (maintenance, supplies and materials, etc.), adds another $800,000. For an assumed 20-year life of the plant and at 10% required return on investment, the annual capital charge for repayment of the $17.5 million principal is calculated to be $920,000. Subtracting these three cost items from the annual revenues of $3.68 million, results in a net annual income of $1.16 million. It can be seen that under the above assumptions the Tilburg operation is profitable. The environmental performance of the Tilburg indicates that 1.36 million m3 of methane per year are recovered and used for electricity generation. This corresponds to 728 tons of carbon in the form of CH4. Considering that one ton of C as methane is equivalent to 21 tons of C as carbon dioxide the Tilburg operation avoids landfill emissions of about 15,000 tons of carbon equivalent.

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1.16

Kompogas Technology

In the late eighties, the KOMPOGAS technology was developed in Switzerland for the conversion of organic waste materials such as garden and kitchen wastes into electricity and compost. Since then, Kompogas has established over 25 plants in different parts of the world. The technology is an example of an anaerobic digester facility for processing of source separated organic materials. Key features of the Facility include: Modular capacity from 10,000 t/yr to over 100,000 t/yr; A nominal capacity of 20,000 t/yr has been assumed for this report; 20 year operating contract life; and Waste processing and resource recovery via three unit processes:

Conditioning: Includes receival, screening, nuisance separation, intermediate storage and moisture adjustment. Fermentation: Intensive fermentation with gas production and energy generation; Maturation: Prepares compost products suitable for beneficial use. The proposed process is shown in Figure 4.3. 1.16.1 Product Output The technology has been designed to yield a range of products, including: Electricity Compost; and Liquid fertiliser.

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Figure 4.4: Kompogas Flow Sheet.

1.16.2 Waste Characterisation The Kompogas technology developed for the processing of source separated organic waste now can also process mixed (residual) waste using mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) facilities. The types of organic waste materials suitable for kompogas process are : garden waste, parks and garden waste, kitchen waste commercial food wastes, biosolids, other organics such as Grease trap wastes, algae where as Street sweepings, textiles, mineral oil, mixed wastes, glass, stones, metals, rubber, plastics are not suitable for it. The actual performance of the plant in terms of compost and electricity generation depends on the final composition of the feedstock which may vary for individual projects. However, key feedstock characteristics and bandwidths are given in Table 11. Table 4.10: Characteristics of acceptable feedstock (mix). 45

Vegetable matter (% solids) < 30% Food waste (% solids) > 30% Proportion of non-processables <2mm < 3% Average particle size 40mm Longest particles <200mm C/N ratio 15-25 Source: Independent review of Kompogas Technology, 2005 These characteristics are relevant for the fermentation operation and hence accepted feedstock outside these specifications are consequently conditioned (by shredding, screening, mixing) to achieve the parameters indicated above. 1.16.3 Anaerobic Digestion (Fermentation) From the mixer, the substrate is pumped by a reciprocating pump though the heat exchangers into the horizontal fermenter. The heat exchangers use off heat from the generator sets to pre-heat the substrate. The process in the fermenter is an anaerobic thermophilic dry fermentation process that takes place at a temperature of approximately 550C. The retention time in the fermenter is between 15 and 20 days. The fermenter is fully enclosed and heated. The constant high temperature sterilises undesirable plant seeds, rootlets and pathogenic organisms. The substrate moves through the fermenter in a plug flow. This happens predominantly though the high pressure pumps between the mixer and the fermenter and is assisted through a central, low speed agitator. The agitator is in continuous operation and enables optimal degassing and temperature distribution. The fermentation residues are discharged from the fermenter by a reciprocating pump and transferred to the dewatering section. Dewatering of the residues takes place in screw presses (straining screws). Depending on expected detailed feedstock characteristics, water prices and markets for liquid fertiliser, more solids can be removed from the press water through a decanter (centrifuge). 46

Some of the process water is then recirculated to the feeder/mixer to reach the optimal substrate moisture prior to entering the fermenter. Remaining process water contains nutrients and is commonly used as liquid fertiliser. As the feedstock consists of clean source separated organics, the process water and the liquid fertiliser do not contain any toxic substances. Gas from the fermenter is directed firstly to a gas cleaning device and then to a generator set (combustion engine) for electricity generation. Additionally, the system features a gas flare for combustion of any excess gas, particularly during ramp up and later for generator maintenance and emergencies. Several brands can be used as generators however, Kompogas favours the GE Jenbacher engines which are being used worldwide for such plants as well as for landfill gas-to-energy operations. Efficiency of these cogeneration units has reached an impressive 40-42% for electricity and up to 45% for heat. Unless there are any close users for the generated heat it is usually taken to the aeration system to assist in the speedy composting of the fermenter residues. 1.16.4 Composting and Refining After passing through the dewatering unit(s), the spent organics from the fermenter need to be treated aerobically to eliminate any remaining odour generating potential. Depending on the market situation, this process is usually conducted over two to three weeks during which the fermenter residues are turned into compost. This composting (maturing) takes place in an enclosed composting hall where the material is piled up to three meters high on a slotted floor to enable forced aeration. The piles are turned once a week. Although several enclosed composting systems are available, for a plant with a capacity of 20,000 t/y this is usually done by a front end loader. An area of approximately 450 m2 is required for the aerated compost piles. Including space for the discharge of the fermenter residues and room to operate the front end loader, Kompogas recommends the compost hall be a minimum of 750m2.

47

After three weeks, the compost is mature and can be stored outdoors without causing any odour problems. Prior to sale, the compost is usually refined. Refining is done though screening to produce higher value fine compost, and lower value coarse compost. The coarse fraction can also be used as a bulking agent to provide additional structure to the feedstock if needed. Occasionally, the refining step also includes a windsifter (air classifier) to remove any plastic film that may not have been eliminated at the front end of the facility. 1.16.5 Mass Balance For a plant with the capacity of fermenter input 20,000 ton/year, a set of technical data sheets provided by Kompogas form the basis for the mass balance estimate given in Table 4.3. As with all other calculations, these are estimates which may change slightly depending on the actual feedstock composition. Table 4.11: Mass Balance Estimate by Kompogas. Ferment Input, t/yr 20,000 Ferment Input per day, t/d 54.7 Facility input per day (5d/week), t/d 80 Fresh compost (45% DS), t/yr 9,000 Mature compost (65% DS), t/yr 7,200 Liquid Fertiliser, t/yr 9,000 Source: Technical Data sheet provided by Kompogas,2009

1.16.6 Energy Balance For an assumed average feedstock comprising mainly biowaste (i.e. mix of garden and food waste from residential premises) KOMPOGAS calculates a gas production of 2.1M Nm3/year with an average energy value of 5.5 kWh/m3.

Table 4.12: Energy balance estimated by Kompogas. Biogas production, Nm3/yr Total energy content of biogas, MWh/yr Electricity generation, MWh/yr 48 2100000 11,550 4,700

Internal electricity consumption, MWh/yr 370 Heat generation, MWh/yr 5,000 Internal heat consumption, MWh/yr 1,900 Net electricity export, MWh/yr 4,330 Capacity of generator set (gas engine), MWh 0.54 Source: Technical Data sheet provided by Kompogas,2009

CHAPTER FIVE TECHNOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR KMC PLANT

Based on above case studies, this section tries to perform a techno-economic assessment of a Hypothetical KMC plant that would process all the waste generated 49

throughout the year. All the estimations have been done on the basis of the specifications provided by the companies.

1.17

Based on Valorga Technology

The organic content as stated earlier constitutes about 70% of 308 tons of waste generated per day in KMC and is estimated to be 216 tons per day and 78,840 tons per year (Table 3.2). The organic content includes garbage, kitchen waste, yard waste and miscellaneous organics. If the paper also a degradable component is mixed with the organic fraction of the MSW, the total waste to be treated amounts to 244 tons per day and 89,000 tons per year. Of 90,000 tons it is assumed that only 80,000 tons will be available for waste treatment annually. Hence to treat 80,000 tons of waste per year, KMC can implement a facility based on the Valorga process described earlier, that consists of two reactors with digester volume 2*3300 m3 of the type used at Tilburg (Netherlands) treating 40,000 tons of mixed MSW per year and producing 2.8 million m3. Organic Fraction of MSW Biogas to Gas Engines On the basis of the data from the Tilburg plant, the hypothetical KMC plant for 80,000 (100%, 80,000 tons/year) (8.59%, 6871 tons/year) tons per year of organic input would require four digesters each of volume 3300m3 and the generation of methane from this plant would amount to 5,600,000 m3 per year (70m3 yearly per ton of feed). The feedstock should be sheared to less than 10cm particles and Mechanical Pretreatment Valorga's Dry oC. withhold in reactor for at least 20 days at a mesophilic temperature of 38AD The other (Including Hand picking) processes in this plant would be similar to the Tilburg plant as stated earlier. Mixer 1.17.1 Mass Balance of the processes based on Valorga Technology Rejects/Recyclables Figure 5.1 shows an estimated mass balance for 80,000 tons per year of waste to be (5.91%, 4,729 tons/year) Steam processed in the hypothetical KMC plant based on the Valorga Technology. Of 100%, (1.5%, 1200 tons/year) approximately 5.91% of waste would be recycled and the rest 94.09% would be Digestate Dewatering processed to get approximately 6871 tons of biogas (density of biogas has been taken as 1.227 kg/m3) and 56,000 tons of compost annually. Waste Water (some recirculated as process water) (14%, 11,200 tons/year) 50 Tunnel Composting

Fertilzer (compost) (70%, 56,000 tons/year)

Figure 5.5: An estimated mass balance for the KMC Plant based on the Valorga Technology Source: Author calculation based on the Valorga technology specifications 1.17.2 Energy Balance of the KMC Plant based on Valorga Technology As stated earlier per ton of waste processed will produce 70 m 3 of methane (54%) and the calorific value of methane is 20 MJ/m3. The total energy content of biogas produced from this plant would amount to 31,000 MWh/y. Assuming overall efficiency of 35% of a gas genset, the amount of electricity that would be generated is estimated to be 10,000 MWh/y out of which 3000 MWh/y will be the internal consumption for the processes. Then the net amount of electricity available annually will be 7000 MWh/y as shown in Table 5. 51

Energy needed for Processes (3000MWh/y)

KMC Plant Process based on Valorga's Technology Pretreatment (Including Hand picking) Net Energy Output (7000 MWh/y) Figure 5.6: An estimated production and consumption of energy based on the Valorga Technology Source: Author calculation based on the Valorga technology specifications

1.18

Based on Kompogas Technology

As the AD of Kompogas Technology uses only organic portion of the total wastes generated,Total technology as stated earlier uses mechanical Biogas to Gas Engines this Waste Generated treatment processes which 112,566 t/y (13%, out of 308 sorts out the organic portion of the waste. In context on KMC, 10,080 t/y) tons generated per day, 216 tons is organic portion which is 78,840 tons per year. For OFMSW (100%, 80,000 t/y) simplicity, the amount of waste that will be processed in fermenter has been taken Mechanical Treatment 80,000 tons per year and all the estimations are based on the technical sheets provided Kompogas Fermenter by the Kompogas Technology and few literatures. Mixer Hence to process organic wastes (OFMSW) of 80,000 tons per year, four fermenters Rejects/Recyclables (32,566 t/y) each of capacity 20,000 tons per year are selected. With each of the 20,000 tons per year capacity fermenter producing 2,100,000 m3 of biogas, the total biogas coming out Some waste water is of the plant will be amounted to 8,400,000 m3 per year (assuming the a ton of organic recirculated wastes produces 105 m3). Dewatering System Liquid Fertilizer (45%, 36,000 tons/year) of the processes based on Kompogas Technology 1.18.1 Mass Balance

52 Composting System

Compost (36%, 28,800 tons/year)

Figure 5.7: An estimated mass balance for KMC plant based on the Kompogas Technology. Source: Authors calculation based on technical sheets provided by Kompogas. Figure 5.3 shows an estimated mass balance for 80,000 tons per year of only organic fraction of solid waste (OFMSW) waste to be processed in the hypothetical KMC plant based on the Kompogas Technology. Of 112,566 tons per year, 32,566 of inorganic wastes will be sorted out by mechanical treatment which is approximately 30% and will be recycled and the rest 70%, assuming now this 70% of the waste as 100% input to the fermenter, will be processed to get approximately 10,080 tons of biogas, 36,000 tons of liquid fertilizer and 28,800 tons of compost annually. The input to the fermenters according to the technical specifications provided by the Kompogas Technology for the KMC plant will be 208.8 tons per day.

53

1.18.2 Energy Balance of the KMC Plant based on the Kompogas Technology KMC Plant Process based on the Kompogas Technology Internal Electricity Consumption (1,480 MWh/y)

Internal Heat Consumption (7,600 MWh/y)

Heat losses (12,400 MWh/y)

Heat Generation (20,000 MWh/y)

Electricity Generation (18,800 MWh/y)

Net Electricity Output (17,320 MWh/y)

Figure 5.8: An estimated energy balance based on the Kompogas Technology Source: Authors calculation based on technical sheets provided by Kompogas. The estimated electricity generation provided by Kompogas is based on an average gas production rate of 105 m3/t of input with energy content of 5.5 kWh/Nm3. The actual generation rates though will depend on the final composition of the feedstock. The internal power consumption is estimated to be 18.5 kWh/t of input. However, the consumption may increase if the mechanical treatment plant becomes complex. Similarly as shown in figure the heat generated during the processes much higher and no use in context of KMC except for the purpose of internal consumption. 1.18.3 Requirement of space The space required for this plant is 12,000 m2 for installing full facilitated plant. The space available at Teku Transfer Station as stated earlier (15,000m2) is sufficient enough to establish this plant.

54

CHAPTER SIX ECONOMICAL ANALYSIS OF KMC PLANT

An economical analysis is usually undertaken in order to evaluate whether the project that need to be implemented will be economically feasible i.e. the cost and benefit brought about by a project to a person or the stakeholders. The benefits are given by the revenue receipts from the sale of the project outputs and the inputs are given by the costs (expenditures) of production. On the basis of cash flow generated during this analysis for the hypothetical waste processing plant in KMC, some financial parameters and their variability are computed. The economic analysis has been done for both 55

Volrago and Kompogas technologies so as to select the more feasible one considering the project life of 20 years from installment. All the details related to the economic analysis are in Appendix B.

1.19

Based on Kompogas Technology

All the costs and expenditures for installing the Kompogas technology based KMC plant has been taken from the technical sheets provided by Kompogas whereas the other costs such as operating and maintenance costs and values such as inflation rate, depreciation rate, income tax etc have been taken from the different current literatures and documents available for economical evaluation of this plant. 1.19.1 Quantum of Investment According to the technical sheet of the Kompogas, the initial investment of 20,000 t/y capacity plant is scaled up for 80,000 t/y KMC plant which is estimated to be 373.16 crores rupees (3.73 billion rupees) for all the infrastructure needed for the plant (from machine purchase to installation and commissioning) except land lease cost. As the investment is huge the KMC plant has to be public limited and hence of the total initial investment, the ratio of debt and equity will be 70% and 30% respectively. 1.19.2 Quantum of Expenses Expenses for the KMC plant will be operation and maintenance cost (O&M), debt interest and depreciation. Considering O&M cost at 5% (http://www.anaerobicdigestion.com/html/ad_plant_cost_estimates.php) with annual inflation of 7% (http://red.nrb.org.np/publica.php?tp=special_publication&&vw=15), debt interest at 13% (Standard Chartered Bank) quarterly compounding and one year payment period and depreciation at 20% (http://www.fncci.org/text/trade_industry_tax.pdf) the total expenses has been estimated which varies as the inflation gets varied. Except debt interest all the other expenses are subjected to variation. 1.19.3 Quantum of Revenue Generation The revenue source for the KMC plant is from the sale of electricity generated, compost, liquid fertilizer and annual tipping fees collected from the households. 56

1.19.3.1

Electricity

According to the NEA steering committee (meeting number 427, 2061 BS), for biomass the power purchase agreement (PPA) will be done at Rs 3.80 per unit of electricity supplied and with the rate will be escalated at 6% per year for five years and will be constant afterwards.
1.19.3.2 Mature Compost and Liquid Fertilizer

The selling price of liquid fertilizer, an important product of this technology, couldnt be made estimated as there is no any commercial or small scale production of this product in the country. But according to Prof. Amrit Man Nakarmi, IOE, Pulchowk, before the use of chemical fertilizer in Bhaktapur for farmig, the locales used to sell the liquid sludge in Kharpan. The tipping fee per household for collecting wastes from the source has been determined on the basis of survey.
1.19.3.3 Tipping Fees

In case of tipping fees, the non-government solid waste management organizations (NGSWMOs) in KMC collect service charges from their customers for solid waste related services. Every organization has its own rate. The service charges levied by the organizations range from 20 NRs to 500 NRs per month per household (HH). For some prominent waste generators, such as large hotels, the service charge can reach up to 20000 NRs per month (Alam, R et all, 2007). But the survey done by author shows that the current service charges are Rs 100, Rs 150 and Rs 200 per HH depending upon the sizes of houses in an average Rs 150 per HH (by triangular calculation method). For the calculation of the revenues, Rs 150 per HH i.e. Rs 2694 per ton has been considered. 1.19.4 Return on Investment and Net Present Value in Different Scenarios Income statement which includes revenues, expenses and income tax at 20% (http://www.fncci.org/text/trade_industry_tax.pdf) produced net income/loss per year for 20 years of project life. Similarly, using operating, investment and financing activities, cash flow was prepared producing net cash flow. This net cash flow was then analyzed to get internal rate of return and net present value using minimum attractive 57

rate of return (MARR) of 15.6% which was calculated using weighted average cost of capital (WACC). WACC was calculated using the following equations:

Where, Ce Cd C i ke = amount of equity capital (in crore), = amount of debt capital (in crore), = Ce + Cd = total amount of capital or investment (in crores), = cost of debt (13%) and = cost of equity (%) which was calculated using the following equation:

Where, Rf = risk free rate of return (6.5%) (Nepal Rastra Bank, 2010) and = beta value (considered 2 as the renewable energy project is riskier than the other energy project) WACC or MARR is the rate at which the common shareholder should get the return on the equity and hence the internal rate of return (IRR) must be greater than MARR. The economic analysis has been done based on this parameter using different scenario and variables for this project. The analysis has been summerised as below: Case I: Current Scenario When selling price of electricity per kWh, mature compost per kg and liquid fertilizer per kg are Rs 3.80, Rs 10 and Rs, 1 respectively and tipping fee is Rs 150, the net present value at discount rate of 15.6% and IRR are estimated to be -89.26 and 1% respectively. If the economic analysis is done using compost selling price of Rs 3/kg, NPV comes out to be Rs -189.12 crores indicating huge loss in the project. This indicates that the project cannot be profitable at all and has IRR much lesser proving the KMC plant not feasible economically under current scenario. 58

Case II: Under current scenario KMC provides 100 % EM budget as levy without increment in annual budget Using the same selling price of the output entities used during case I, if KMC spends its all EM budget for paying levy to KMC plant, NPV and IRR comes out to be Rs 49.93 crores and 25% respectively when compost selling price considered Rs 10/kg. IRR then is greater than MARR and hence under this condition the project seems feasible economically. But for Rs 3/kg of compost selling price, NPV is negative indicating losses and hence under this condition the project will not be feasible economically. Case III: Under current scenario KMC provides 75 % EM budget as levy without increment in budget Using the same selling price of the output entities used during case I, if KMC spends its only 75% EM budget, without any increment in annual budget, for paying levy to KMC plant, NPV and IRR comes out to be Rs 14.94 crores and 18% respectively. IRR in this case also is greater than MARR and hence under this condition also the project seems feasible economically. But again for Rs 3/kg of compost selling price, NPV is negative indicating losses and hence under this condition the project will not be feasible economically. Case IV: Under current scenario KMC provides 100% EM budget as levy with 12% increment in annual budget If it is done so, NPV and IRR come out to be Rs 192.97 crores and 40% respectively. IRR in this case is almost triple of MARR and hence under this condition the project will be feasible economically. The table below depicts the summary of above scenarios Table 6.13: Summary of Net Present Worth and Internal Rate of Return under different scenarios for KMC plant based on Kompogas Technology Cases I Scenario Current Scenario (without levy from KMC) Net Present Value at Discount Rate of 15.6%, Rs, Crores -89.26* -189.12** 59 Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 1%* -

Under current scenario KMC provides 100 % EM budget as levy without II increment in budget Under current scenario KMC provides 75 % EM budget as levy without III increment in budget Under current scenario KMC provides 100 % EM budget as levy with 12% IV increment in budget *Compost SP: Rs 10/kg **Compost SP: Rs 3/kg

49.93* -44.42**

25%* 8%**

14.94* -77.45**

18%* 3%**

192.67* 102.54**

40%* 25%**

Source: Author estimation

1.20

Based on Valorga Technology

The economical assessment of KMC plant based on Valorga Technology was done considering the same parameters as for KMC plant based on Kompogas. According to Verma (2002), the total amount of investment needed for 80,000 t/y capacities will be Rs 435.86 crores and the revenues will be generated by sale of electricity and compost. The summary of economic assessment under different scenario is as in Table 6.2 which depicts that the economic feasibility of this plant is totally dependent upon the selling price of the fertilizers. Only in case IV the plant based on Valorga Technology is economically feasible. Table 6.14: Summary of Net Present Worth and Internal Rate of Return under different scenarios for KMC plant based on Kompogas Technology Cases I Scenario Current Scenario (without levy from KMC) Under current scenario KMC provides 100 % EM budget as levy without increment in budget Under current scenario KMC provides 75 % EM budget as levy without Net Present Value at Discount Rate of 15.6%, Rs, Crores -33.49* -223.07** 110.09* -79.49** 14.94* -116.60** 60 Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 11%* 31%* 3%** 18%* -

II III

increment in budget Under current scenario KMC provides 100 % EM budget as levy with 12% IV increment in budget *Compost SP: Rs 10/kg **Compost SP: Rs 3/kg

255.02* 68.28**

50%* 21%**

Source: Author estimation

CHAPTER SEVEN RISK ANALYSIS

Considering the various parameters shown in Table 7.1, risk analysis is performed using Crystal Ball 7.3.1 software for 1,000 trials. The various results are described below. Table 7.15: The parameters considered and assumptions defined for performing risk analysis using Crystal Ball

61

Parameters Levy 50% and 112% of EM Budget OM cost @ 2.5% and 10%, crores crores Debt @10% and 15%, crores Compost, Rs/ton Fertilizer, Rs/ton Tipping Fees, Rs/HH-month Electricity Price, Rs/unit

Min 14.8 9.33 26.12 1000 1000 50.00 3.8

Max 33.25 37.31 39.18 15000 15000 200.00 10

Assumptions Defined

Triangulation distribution

Log normal distribution

Figure 7.9: Frequency distribution chart under real scenario for Valorga based KMC Plant. The results of risk analysis using software for Valorga based KMC plant shows that this plant will not be economically viable as the certainty of getting the net present value (NPV) zero are 13.07 and 42.25% during real scenario and when the levy is provided by KMC to the plant as shown in Figure 7.1 and 7.2 respectively.

62

Figure 7.10: Frequency distribution chart when KMC provides levy to the Valorga based KMC plant The results of risk analysis using software for Kompogas based KMC plant shows that this plant will not be economically viable under the real scenario as the certainty of getting the net present value (NPV) zero is only 24.92 % as shown in Figure 7.3 whereas if the levy is provided by KMC to the plant, the plant becomes feasible economically with 75.12% certainty of getting the net present value zero as shown in Figure 7.4.

63

Figure 7.11: Frequency distribution chart under real scenario for Kompogas based KMC Plant.

Figure 7.12: Frequency distribution chart when KMC provides levy to the Kompogas based KMC plant. 64

CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1.21 Conclusions

With the growing technology there are many companies that provide technology for anaerobic digestion of the municipal solid waste among them Valorga and Kompogas are the two. Based on these technologies, the studies shows that the KMC plant can be installed using these technologies and is technically feasible. However the economic analysis shows that both of the technologies under current scenario is infeasible economically as their NPV are negative and IRR are much lesser than expected MARR. The KMC plant based on these technologies will only be economically feasible when KMC pays its budget under Environmental Management heading as levy. Among the two technologies, study shows that technically and economically, the Kompogas based KMC plant is superior however both of the technologies needs huge investment making difficult to install such plant in a developing countries like Nepal. The following key conclusions drawn from this study are: The major components of wastes generated from KMC is organic comprises 70% and 70% of which is kitchen waste. Moisture content is high ranging from 62-82%. The lower calorific value (Balance Energy) at 69% moisture content is estimated to be 3 MJ/kg. The electricity that can be generated from the energy content in the wastes thermally at overall efficiency of 25% is estimated to be 33.26 GWh per year.

The technical parameters show the technical viability of Anaerobic Digestion systems while thermal conversion technologies unviable. The electricity that can be generated from Kompogas based KMC Plant is 18.8 GWh per year which will also produce high quality 28,800 tons of compost and 36,000 tons of liquid fertilizer per year.

65

The electricity that can be generated from Valorga based KMC Plant is 7 GWh per year which will also produce high quality 56,000 tons of compost per year.

Economically Kompogas based KMC plant is evaluated as more feasible than the Valorga based KMC Plant though both are technically feasible. The Valorga based KMC Plant is riskier than the Kompogas based KMC plant.

1.22

Recommendations

This thesis presents the following recommendations: A thorough and new study should be done to know the characteristics of the solid wastes as KMC has urbanized rapidly with increment in population. A lab based study should be done to determine the key parameters that enhance and suppress the biogas reaction. After determining the key parameters affecting the biogas generation from waste, a lab scale experiment should be done to know the effect of these parameters which can be helpful for a pilot scale plant. As Socio-economic Analysis has totally been left during this study and hence need an assessment to know the aspects of society and how they can benefit with the launch of this project in the project area.

Market Survey of the compost and liquid fertilizer are must to make this kind of project economically viable. The private and social organizations that have been involved for the solid waste management should be taken into considerations to make this project viable.

66

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Kapdi et el., 2004, "Biogas scrubbing, compression and storage: perspective and prospectus in Indian context", Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi Karki, A., Shrestha, J., and Bajgain, S. 2005 (ed), "Biogas as Renewable Source of Energy in Nepal : Theory and Development", BSP-Nepal, Kathmandu Kelleher M. 2007, "European Trends Anaerobic Digestion Outlook for MSW Streams", BioCycle Energy, August 2007: 51-55. Kumar, S., "Technology Options for Municipal Solid Waste-To-Energy Project", TERI Information Monitor on Environmental Science 5(1): 111. Maharjan, K. 2004, "Management of Solid Waste of KFVWM from Different Methods of Composting", Thesis, Tribhuvan University Mehta, A., "The Economics and Feasibility of Electricity Generation using Manure Digesters on Small and Mid-size Dairy Farms", Madison. Millrath, K., Themelis, N. J., " Waste as a Renewable Source of Energy: Current and Future Practices", 2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition Washington, D.C., November 16-21, 2003. Monnet, F., 2003, "An Introduction to Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Wastes", Scotland Mller., C., Dbendorf, 2007, " Anaerobic Digestion of Biodegradable Solid Waste in Low- and Middle-Income Countries" eawag,Sandec. Municipal Solid Waste", Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai. Murphy, J.D., McKeogh, E., 2004, "Technical, economic and environmental analysis of energy production from municipal solid waste", Renewable Energy, Volume 29, pp.10431057 68 Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Energy Analysis and Policy Program, University of Wisconsin

NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD. 2005, "The Study on The solid Waste Management for the Kathmandu Valley", Japan International Cooperation Agency Olgica, M. and Katica, T., 2008, "Scenario for decreased greenhouse gases emission in Macedonia by successful municipal solid waste management". Ortenblad, H., 2002, " Anaerobic Digestion of MSW", EnergiGruppen Jylland, Herning, Denmark. Papageorgiou, A., Barton, J.R., Karagiannidis, A., 2009, " Assessment of the greenhouse effect impact of technologies used for energy recovery from municipal waste: A case for England", Journal of Environmental Management Volume 90, pp. 29993012. Promotion of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Abatement (PREGA), 2005,"Dhaka City Solid Waste to Electric Energy Project", Bangladesh. Pun, S. 2003, "Evaluation of Solid Wastes of Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Wholesale Markets", Thesis, Pokhara University Qdais, H.A.A., 2007, "Techno-Economic Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Jordan", Waste Management, Volume 27, pp. 16661672. Regional Information Service Center for South East Asia on Appropriate Technology, 1998, "Review of Current Status of Anaerobic Digestion Technology for Treatment ofsolid wastes", Biomethanization of OFMSW. Tyson, K. Shaine, Martin and Hammon, E., Future potential for MSW energy development Technology and Resource Assessment Branch, Analytic Studies Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, U.S.A. Vandevivere, P., De Baere, L., Verstraete, W., "Types of anaerobic digesters for Verma, S., 2002 "Anaerobic Digestion of Biodegradable Organics in Municipal Solid Wastes", M. Sc. Thesis, Department of Earth & Environmental Engineering, Columbia University. 69

Wilkie A. C. 2005, "Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Manure: Design and Process". Considerations. Dairy Manure Management: Treatment, Handling, and Community Relations. Cornell University, N.Y. NRAES-176: 301-312. Wilkie A. C. 2005, "Anaerobic Digestion: Biology and Benefits", Dairy Manure Management: Treatment, Handling, and Community Relations. Natural Resource, Cornell University. Zaman, S. A. U., 2007," The Potential of Electricity Generation from Poultry Waste in Bangladesh. A Case Study of Gazipur District", Thesis, University of Flensburg, Germany.

Websites http://www.mrec.org/biogas/adgpg.pdf. http://www.ird.gov.np/overview.php?c=Income%20Tax&sb=Handbook http://red.nrb.org.np/publica.php?tp=special_publication&&vw=15 http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/07-057.htm http://www.analyticalmk.com/files/022008/Olgica_MICEVSKA_Katica_TASESKA.pdf http://pdm.nrb.org.np/bondnotices/Development%20Bond-2076%20Kha %20(Notice).pdf http://www.fncci.org/text/trade_industry_tax.pdf http://www.anaerobic-digestion.com/html/ad_plant_cost_estimates.php

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APPENDIX A: AD KEY PARAMETERS

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The following summarizes the information collected during the course of this study on the technical details of Anaerobic Digestion of MSW. Digester Material Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally wherever high concentrations of wet organic matter accumulate in the absence of dissolved oxygen. Only waste of organic origin can be processed in an anaerobic digester. As this makes up 30-60% of household waste there is a considerable benefit in diverting this waste from landfill. Municipal solid waste is composed of:1) Digestible Organic Fraction Readily biodegradable organic matter, e.g. kitchen scraps, food residue, grass cuttings etc.
2) Combustible Fraction Slowly digestible organic matter such as coarser

wood, paper, cardboard. These are lignocellulosic materials which do not readily degrade under anaerobic conditions and are better suited to aerobic digestion, i.e. composting. (Opinions vary over the digestibility of paper, which depends on the lignin content, some forms of paper are much more digestible than others generally only paper that is too contaminated with organic waste to be recycled, is considered for digestion). The combustible fraction also consists of indigestible and 3) Inert Fraction Stones, glass, sand, metal, etc. Some of these products are suitable for recycling, the remainder can be landfilled. Joint treatment of municipal solid waste with animal manure/sewage slurry is apopular method in existi plants; the process tends to be simpler and is economically more viable than an MSW only treatment system. Separation Source Separation: Recyclable materials separated from organic waste at the source. Mechanical Separation: This can be used to separate an organic fraction of the wasteif source separation is not available. The fraction obtained is more contaminated which will affect the heavy metal and plastic content of the final digestate composting

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product. In many countries compost derived from mechanical separation will not meet standards required for a soil conditioner product. Pre-treatment Having separated any recyclable or unwanted materials from the waste, t material must be chopped or shredded before it is fed into the digester. The organic matter is also diluted with a liquid, ranging from sewage slurry, to recycled water from the digestate, to clean water. In some system ms an aerobic pre-treatment allows organic matter to be partly decomposed under aerobic conditions before undergoing anaerobic digestion. C/N Ratio: The relationship between the amount of carbon and nitrogen present in organic materials is expressed in terms of the Carbon/Nitrogen ratio. A C/N ratio of 20 3 is considered to be optimum for an anaerobic digester. If C/N ratio is very high, the nitrogen will be consumed rapidly by the methanogens to meet their protein requirement and will no longer react on the left over carbon content in the material. As a result the gas production will be low. If the C/N ratio is very low, nitrogen will be liberated and accumulate in the form of ammonia. This will increase the pH value of the material. A pH value higher than 8.5 will start to show a toxic effect on the methanogenic bacterial population. Animal waste, such as cow dung, which has been used successfully in biogas systems for many years, has an average C/N ratio of 24. Plant materials contain a high percentage of carbon and so the C/N ratio is high, (rice straw = 70, sawdust >200). Human excreta has a C/N ratio of about 8. To maintain the C/N level of the digester material at acceptable levels, materials with high C/N ratio can be mixed with those with a low C/N ratio, i.e. organic solid waste can be mixed with sewage or animal manure. Dilution: Water or slurry can be added to the raw material to maintain the required consistency. If material is too diluted, the solid particles will settle down in the digester 73 organic

and if it is too thick the particles will impede the flow of gas to the upper part of the digester. Different systems can handle different percentages of solid to liquid, average ratios are 10-25%, but some systems can cope with solids up to 30% . pH Value: Optimum biogas production is achieved when the pH value of the input mixture is between 6 and 7. The pH value will be affected by mixture retention time in the digester. In the initial period of fermentation, large amounts of organic acids are produced and the pH value of the mixture can decrease to below 5. This will inhibit, or even stop, the digestion and fermentation process. The methanogenic bacteria are very sensitive to pH value and will not thrive below a value of 6.5. As digestion continues and the concentration of ammonia increases, due to the digestion of nitrogen, the pH value can increase to above 8. When the methane gas production has stabilised, the pH will remain between 7.2 and 8.2. When plant material is fermented in a batch system, the acetogenesis/fermentation stage is rapid, producing organic acids which reduce the pH and inhibits further digestion. Reduction in pH can usually be controlled by the addition of lime. Loading Rate: This is an important process control parameter in continuous systems. Many plants have reported system failures due to overloading. This is often caused by inadequate mixing of the waste with slurry. If there is a significant rise in volatile fatty acids this normally requires that the feedrate to the system be reduced. Retention Time: Wastes remain in a digester that is operating in the mesophilic range for a varying period of 10 40 days, the duration being dictated by differing technologies, temperature fluctuations and waste composition. Toxicity: Mineral ions, heavy metals and detergents are some of the toxic materials that inhibit the normal growth of bacteria in the digester. Small quantities of minerals, (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, ammonium and sulphur), also stimulate the bacterial growth, but heavy concentrations will have a toxic effect.

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Heavy metals such as copper, nickel, chromium, zinc, lead are essential for bacterial growth in small quantities, but higher quantities will also have a toxic effect. Detergents such as soap, antibiotics,organic solvents also inhibit the bacteria. Recovery of digesters following toxic substances inhibiting the system can only be achieved by cessation of feeding and diluting the contents to below the toxic level. Mixing/Agitation: Results from existing systems tend to show that a level of mixing is required to maintain the process stability within the digester. The objectives of mixing are to combine the fresh material with the bacteria, to stop the formation of scum and to avoid pronounced temperature gradients within the digester. Over frequent mixing can disrupt the bacterial community and it is generally considered that slow mixing is better than rapid mixing. The amount of mixing required is also dependent on the content of the digestion mixture. Health Issues: Bacteria and viruses present in municipal solid waste can be a risk to the workers handling the waste. For a combination of sewage sludge and household waste, which are regarded as having a higher infectivity risk than animal manure, pretreatment processing at 700C for at least one hour is recommended by the Danish Energy Authority. Solid residue/Slurry: After the biological degradation is complete the solid residue or digestate is removed and can be cured aerobically and screened for any unwanted items, (like glass shards, plastic pieces etc), before being used on the land. The purity of the material fed into the system will dictate the quality of the slurry produced. This is used as a product to condition and improve soil. Problems specific to MSW anaerobic digestion: 1) Nature of organic waste may vary according to location and time of year. In wet season horticultural plant cutting levels may be higher than in the dry season. This may lead to a variation in the C/N ratio and affect the rate of gas production. 75

2) Inadequate mixing of refuse and sewage can affect efficiency of system. 3) Blockage of pipes can be caused if large pieces of waste enter the system; this causes problems, particularly in continuous systems. Advantages of MSW anaerobic digestion: 1) Makes landfills easier to manage by removing problematic organic waste material which is responsible for gaseous and liquid emissions. 2) Enclosed system allows all of the biogas to be collected, unlike on landfills where recovery only yields 30-40% of gas generated. Methane is a greenhouse gas with twenty times the impact of carbon dioxide. 3) An end product that can be used as a soil conditioner is produced. Mixing the refuse with animal dung improves the system efficiency and allows for a more simple process design, improving the economic viability of the system. This is due to the improved nitrogen content that is achieved by mixing with dung. Important points to be considered when designing a mixed MSW/animal dung or sewage Biogas system. 1) Health Issues: Bacteria and viruses present in municipal solid waste and human sewage can be harmful to those handling the waste and can remain in the slurry following the digestion process. Treatment of waste at 700C for 1 hour is recommended, either before digestion or on slurry prior to use as a soil conditioner. 2) Sampling: It is useful to design into the digester system the ability to take samples of the digester material so that a check on the content can be maintained. This allows adjustments to be made to the content of the mixture if gas production reduces. 3) Gas Storage: Many existing animal dung biogas systems store the gas in a hemispherical concrete and brick structure, which forms the top of the digester unit. In some cases leakage from cracks in the concrete has been found.

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Attention should be paid to the construction of the concrete vessel or alternatively a steel vessel could be used for gas storage. 4) Agitation: Digestion rate is improved if a method of stirring is incorporated into the digester design. 5) Waste Content: The waste must be sorted so that all inorganic products are removed from the refuse prior to entry into the digester. Ideally the refuse should be sorted at source, if not; it could be sorted by hand on delivery to the site. However, at this stage recyclable materials are more likely to be contaminated with organic material and this is not desired for recycling.

APPENDIX B: ECONOMIC ANALYIS SHEETS

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