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Life cycle assessment of solid refuse fuel production from MSW in Korea

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Abstract

Solid refuse fuel (SRF) produced from waste materials is a promising fuel that can be utilized for energy recovery in industries. This study considered both characterization and weighting modeling as life cycle assessment (LCA) results. This study aimed to analyze the flows of materials and energy and to evaluate the environmental impact of SRF plants using LCA and compared them with an incineration plant. Based on the results of material and energy flow analysis, SRF products had various energy potentials depending on the treatment method of municipal solid waste (MSW) and replaced the current fossil fuels by SRF combustion. Global impacts were mainly influenced by energy consumption, especially drying methods in the production of SRF, and affected the results of the weighting analysis. The SRF plant with a bio-drying option was evaluated as the best effective practice in the weighting analysis. The LCA results in this study indicated 0.021–9.88 points according to drying methods for SRF production and 1.38 points for incineration. In the sensitivity analysis, the environmental impact of SRF production was found to be significantly affected by the drying methods for MSW and the utilization of fossil energy. Thus, improvement of the drying options could significantly reduce the environmental impact.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Korea Environment Institute: A Study on Appropriate Distribution for Utilization of Waste Resources and Bioenergy (ΙΙ). This research was also supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment (Korea MOE) as waste to energy recycling human resource development project. We are thankful for kind contributions of Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Cooperation and Institute for Advanced Engineering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Resource Recirculation, Korea Environment Institute, 370 Sicheong-daero, Sejong-si, 339-007, South Korea

    Sora Yi

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehakro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, South Korea

    Yong-Chul Jang

Authors
  1. Sora Yi
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  2. Yong-Chul Jang
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Correspondence to Sora Yi.

Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and Tables 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.

Fig. 7
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-A plant

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Fig. 8
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-B plant

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Fig. 9
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-C plant

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Fig. 10
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-D plant

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Fig. 11
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-E plant

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Fig. 12
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Flow analysis of materials and energy for the SRF-F plant

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Fig. 13
figure 13

Flow analysis of materials and energy for the incineration-D plant

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Table 10 Characterization factors for abiotic resource depletion in a characterization step
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Table 11 Characterization factors for global warming potential in a characterization step
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Table 12 Characterization factors for ozone-layer depletion in a characterization step
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Table 13 Characterization factors for acidification in a characterization step
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Table 14 Characterization factors for eutrophication in a characterization step
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Table 15 Characterization factors for human toxicity in a characterization step
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Table 16 Characterization factors for eco-toxicity in a characterization step
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Table 17 Characterization factors for photochemical oxidant in a characterization step
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Table 18 Life cycle assessment results of abiotic resource depletion in the characterization step
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Table 19 Life cycle assessment results of global warming potential in the characterization step
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Table 20 Life cycle assessment results of ozone-layer depletion in the characterization step
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Table 21 Life cycle assessment results of acidification in the characterization step
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Table 22 Life cycle assessment results of eutrophication in the characterization step
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Table 23 Life cycle assessment results of human toxicity in the characterization step
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Table 24 Life cycle assessment results of eco-toxicity in the characterization step
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Table 25 Life cycle assessment results of photochemical oxidant in the characterization step
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Yi, S., Jang, YC. Life cycle assessment of solid refuse fuel production from MSW in Korea. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 20, 19–42 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-016-0541-9

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