ASSIGNMENT/TUTORIAL CPE655 2019

QUESTION 1

The increasing amount of solid wastes has become the biggest environmental problem in Malaysia.
Population growth has led to the increase in generation of solid wastes in Malaysia and it has become a
crucial issue to be solved. The wastes generated are from sources like domestic, industrial and
commercial and it shows an increasing trend throughout the world. Due to this reason, solid waste
management plays an important role in maintaining a sustainable environment.

a) In 2007, Solid Waste Management (SWM) is being managed, directly or indirectly at all three
levels of government which are federal, state and local authority. Discuss (5) roles of the state
government in order to ensure an efficient solid waste management and suggest ways to achieve
each roles.
(10 marks)

b) Malaysia has developed a National Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Management that forms the
basis for solid waste policy and practice in Peninsular Malaysia until the year 2020. The Ninth
Malaysia Plan explicitly supports the National Strategic Plan (NSP) which establishes a new
entity of the Solid Waste Management Department, under the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government to undertake policy formulation, planning and management of solid waste. Explain
five (5) principles which encompass the National Strategic Plan.
(10 marks)

QUESTION 2

A study on the characteristics of residential solid waste has been conducted by the National Solid Waste
Department. Samples were collected from the households of two different residential areas. The analysis
of the physical properties of the waste is important to identify the suitable disposal method. The
compositions of the households waste collected are presented in Table 1. By referring to the Appendix,

a) Calculate the moisture content in both wastes from residential A and residential B.
(10 marks)

b) Analyse a suitable disposal method for Residential A and Residential B and justify your answer.
Analyse the advantages of the recommended disposal method.
(10 marks)

Table 1 Households Waste Composition

Component Percent by weight
Residential A Residential B
Food wastes 60 10
Paper 10 50
Cardboard 5 10
Plastics 10 20
Textiles 5 2
Rubber 2 2
Leather 4 2
Yard wastes 2 2
Wood 2 2
 ASSIGNMENT/TUTORIAL CPE655 2019
QUESTION 3

A leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended
solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed. Leachate is a widely used
term in the environmental sciences for which it has the specific meaning of a liquid that has dissolved or
entrained environmentally harmful substances that may then enter the environment. It is most commonly
used in the context of land-filling of putrescible or industrial waste. In the narrow environmental context,
leachate is therefore any liquid material that drains from land or stockpiled material and contains
significantly elevated concentrations of undesirable material derived from the material that it has passed
through.

a) Landfill leachate treatment is a major engineering challenge due to the high and varied
concentrations of dissolved solids, dissolved and colloidal organics, heavy metals and xenobiotic
organics. Specific leachate management practices, such as recirculation (bioreactor landfill) and
blending landfill gas with leachate, impact quality, resulting in characteristics that vary greatly
from site to site. Cold temperature in winter is also a challenge to designing leachate treatment
facilities (LTF) in Canada. Analyze two (2) leachate management options.
(10 marks)

b) Landfill gas is a product of the degradation of biodegradable organic wastes that can be broken
down by micro-organisms such as paper, wood or food stuffs. With the aid of a proper diagram,
evaluate the passive gas collection system and the active gas collection system of a landfill.
(10 marks)

QUESTION 4

a) The generation of clinical waste in Malaysia has increased significantly over the last few decades.
Wholly or partly of human animal tissue, blood or other body fluids, excretions, drugs or other
pharmaceutical products, swabs or dressings, syringes, sharp instruments and other infectious
materials contain in clinical waste poses potential health and environmental risks. A great
attention needs to be given on the current practice of clinical waste management. Propose five
(5) methods to segregate the clinical wastes.
(10 marks)

b) Malaysia today is an example for economic success, attaining a rapid economic growth rate in
Southeast Asia. The country continues to take big strides towards becoming an industrialization
nation by year 2020. With the current trends of rapid population growth and industrialization,
wastes and pollutants are released faster than the earth can absorb. Thus, the environmental
issues we encounter today are increasingly complex and require more integrated solutions. As
one of the environmental engineers, you need to adopt strategies to focus on future hazardous
waste scenario in Malaysia. Develop and discuss five (5) strategies to reduce or tackle the
hazardous waste.
(10 marks)

QUESTION 5

Municipal solid waste combustion systems can be designed to operate using commingled solid waste
(mass fired) and processed solid waste refuse-derived fuel (RDF-fired). As an engineer of the company
that deals with combustion of MSW, your boss has asked you to prepare a presentation to a group of
visiting university students, regarding the combustion of MSW. In your presentation outline:

a) Analyse both the mass fired and RDF fired combustion systems.
(8 marks)
 ASSIGNMENT/TUTORIAL CPE655 2019
b) With an aid of a diagram, justify two (2) air pollution control systems for the MSW combustion.
(8 marks)
c) Analyse the ash management systems of the MSW combustion.
(4 marks)

QUESTION 6

a) You are a member of the Council’s Waste Management. One of your responsibilities is to educate
the public on sustainable waste management by organizing a public program. In your program
proposal;

i) Analyse five (5) steps on how can the public help with Sustainable Waste Management.
(5 marks)
ii) Analyse the organic waste contributes to Greenhouse Gases and propose one (1) method using
the organics as a resource to help fight climate change.
(7 marks)

b) The process whereby organic matter is broken down by micro-organisms in the presence of heat and
moisture is known as composting. Analyse four (4) technical parameters concern for composting.
(8 marks)

QUESTION 7

Semenyih Solid Waste Municipal Council has carried out a study on the characteristics of its residential
solid waste. Sample was collected from the households of one particular residential area. The analysis of
the physical properties of the waste is important to identify the suitable disposal method. The
compositions of the household waste collected are presented in Table 1. By referring to the Appendix,

a) Calculate the chemical composition of the organic fraction:

i) Without sulfur (without water and with water).
(8 marks)
ii) With sulfur (without water and with water).
(8 marks)

b) Analyse a suitable disposal method for the waste and justify your answer.
(4 marks)

Table 1 Households Waste Composition

Component Percent by weight
Food wastes 34.0
Paper 18.5
Cardboard 6.0
Plastics 7.0
Textiles 2.0
Rubber 0.5
Leather 0.5
Yard wastes 9.0
Wood 2.0
 ASSIGNMENT/TUTORIAL CPE655 2019
QUESTION 8

a) The enormous increase in the quantum and diversity of waste materials and their potentially
harmful effects on the general environment and public health, have led to an increasing
awareness about an urgent need to adopt scientific methods for safe disposal of wastes. Waste-
to-energy plants based on gasification are high-efficiency power plants that utilize municipal solid
waste as their fuel rather than conventional sources of energy like coal, oil or natural gas. Such
plants recover the thermal energy contained in the garbage in highly efficient boilers that
generate steam that can then be sold directly to industrial customers, or used on-site to drive
turbines for electricity production. With an aid of a gasification process diagram, evaluate the
gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW). Your answer should have the benefits of the
gasification, the gasification process, advantages and disadvantages of the gasification and types
of gasifier.
(15 marks)

b) Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances
contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems
are described as thermal treatment. Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash,
flue gas and heat. State five (5) types of incinerator.
(5 marks)

QUESTION 9

a) The management of odours from landfills is an aspect of landfill operations and management that
is of continuing concern to both the public, and the regulatory authorities and waste management
companies. Odours have long been associated with waste management activities, a natural and
inevitable consequence of the biological and chemical processes that occur during the
decomposition of putrescible wastes. As part of your work as landfill engineer, you need to give a
talk to the university’s students on odour control at landfill. Analyse the odour control technologies
at landfill site. In your outline, you should have the origin of the odours and its process, the root
causes of the odours, factors influencing odours strength, health effects of the odour and odour
control systems at the landfill sites.
(15 marks)

b) Leachate is the liquid that drains or ‘leaches’ from a landfill. It varies widely in composition
regarding the age of the landfill and the type of waste that it contains. It usually contains both
dissolved and suspended material. Explain leachate recycling in municipal solid waste (MSW)
landfills.
(5 marks)

QUESTION 10

Waste minimization is a process of elimination that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in
society and helps to eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to
promote a more sustainable society. As a new officer in the department, your boss has asked you to
present on waste minimisation and prevention to all staff. As an outline of the presentation;

a) Evaluate four (4) benefits of solid waste prevention.

(8 marks)

b) Recommend six (6) solid waste prevention strategies.

(12 marks)
 ASSIGNMENT/TUTORIAL CPE655 2019
QUESTION 11

Gasification converts waste to a usable synthesis gas, or syngas. Gasification is a unique process that
transforms a carbon-based material (municipal solid waste or biomass) into other forms of energy without
actually burning it. Instead, gasification converts the solid and liquid waste materials into a gas through a
chemical reaction. This reaction combines those carbon-based materials (known as feedstocks) with
small amounts of air or oxygen (but not enough to burn the materials), breaking them down into simple
molecules, primarily a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Evaluate four (4) types of gasifier.
(20 marks)

QUESTION 12

a) Water percolating through landfill produces leachate, which may contain toxic chemical. Thus,
modern sanitary landfill is constructed to prevent leachate contamination of groundwater. Sketch
the leachate formation diagram.
(10 marks)
b) Landfill gas can be flared (burned) onsite but this not beneficial application of these resources.
Evaluate two (2) beneficial energy recovery systems from this landfill gas.
(6 marks)
c) Leachate treatment technologies are both difficult and expensive. Hence new techniques
managing this potential pollutant must be addressed. Analyse two (2) new techniques for
leachate treatment.
(4 marks)