Website: www.sofena.com/landfill.htm
Summary
The municipality landfill Suhodol is located 1.2 km far from the Suhodol district of Sofia. The landfill is divided into two parts: the first has been in operation since 1994 to 1997 and some 500 000 t waste have been dumped there. The First part is closed and capped with an impermeable construction. The waste stored in the place is in real methane degradation phase and produces landfill gas with about 50% methane content. The second part is under operation since 1997.
A pilot plant might be constructed for utilization of the gas from the first part of the landfill and extended in the future to cope with the gas from the Second part of the landfill. The Project is regarded as one of a high priority for the City of Sofia. Such experience could be transferred to the other sites in Bulgaria as well.
The project has also environmental benefits. The methane as a main component of the landfill gas is a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times stronger impact to the global worming than CO2. Landfill gas incineration will reduce: the methane emissions, the odour effect, and the risk of explosion.
Results
Worldwide practice shows that the landfill gas produced as a result of the unsorted waste degradation may be profitably utilized. The experience in this area exists and a lot of proven solutions ware investigated and their pros and cons ware discussed in the work. The most appropriate technology that is widely accepted and suitable in our case is the spark ignition gas engines. The waste heat from the engines can be used for district or greenhouse heating to increase the energy efficiency of the installation (cogeneration).
According to recent assessment made by Sofia Energy Agency some 280 m3/h landfill gas now evolved to the atmosphere can be recovered and utilized in a gas engine with 500 kW electrical and 800 kW heat capacity. The period of exploitation of the power station will be extended after starting to use the second part of the landfill in 2006. Then the electrical capacity will be increased to 2,5 MW and emissions of 5 000 tons/yr CH4 (110 000 tons CO2 equivalent) will be avoided.
Some preliminary calculations were made in order to define the investment (EUR 3 million) and O&M costs (EUR 200 000 annually) needed. The simple payback period was estimated to be 5 years.
As a part of the investigation, some preliminary contacts with potential investors from Netherlands and Denmark were established. Possibilities to use mechanisms like Joint Implementation (Kyoto Protocol) or the scheme Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) were discussed on municipal level.
To find similar reports, click on a keyword below:
Biogas
: Biomass & Bioenergy
: District Heating
: Energy from Waste
: Heat/Heating
: ManagEnergy
: Polygeneration
: Renewable Energy Sources & Systems
Complete the Questionnaire to add your organisation to this website
Case Study (30 KB PDF)