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Renewable Energy Systems pp 1510–1531Cite as

Waste-to-Energy Ash Management in the United States

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Definition of the Subject

Municipal solid waste (MSW) contains organics that can be converted to heat and power and should not be wasted by dumping in landfills. However, waste-to-energy (WTE) ash residues contain substances that have the potential to contaminate the environment. Management of ash residues therefore requires procedures that assure placement in landfills wherein leachate is collected, or treated to minimize the toxicity of the residues, possibly for beneficial use.

Regulations for management of ash residues have developed differently in various countries, in accordance with the physical and political situation and also the costs of the alternatives. Procedures used by WTE facilities in the USA require testing of the combined residues from the stoker, boiler, and emission control system to ensure meeting established federal and state regulations. Most of the “combined” ash produced in the USA is disposed in sanitary landfills as Alternative Daily Cover and for other...

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Abbreviations

Analysis:

Laboratory testing to determine composition and properties.

Ash residue:

Noncombustible solid matter remaining after combustion of municipal or other waste.

Beneficial use:

Application of ash residues to useful purposes as distinguished from disposal in landfills.

Bottom ash:

Noncombustible residues collected from the bottom of a combustion process such as a stoker.

Contaminants:

Minor and unwanted chemicals and salts that may be harmful to health and the environment.

Fly ash:

Fine solid particles derived from combustion and carried by gaseous products of combustion.

Heavy metals:

Metallic chemical element within the upper range of atomic weights, such as the lead and cadmium contained in ash residues.

Landfilling:

Placing municipal or other wastes upon the land.

Leaching:

Process of extraction of water-soluble metals and compounds by water passing through a solid waste.

Testing:

Laboratory analysis of ash residues to determine composition and properties.

Treatment:

Processing of ash residues to change characteristics or remove harmful components to reduce or eliminate contamination of the environment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hasselriis Associates, 52 Seasongood Road, Forest Hills, NY, 11375, USA

    Floyd Hasselriis

Authors
  1. Floyd Hasselriis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Floyd Hasselriis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Biomass Research Centre, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  2. Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  3. Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Nickolas J. Themelis

  4. Ormat Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV, USA

    Lucien Y. Bronicki

  5. Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lennart Söder

  6. Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, School of Ocean And Earth Science And Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Luis A. Vega

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Hasselriis, F. (2013). Waste-to-Energy Ash Management in the United States. In: Kaltschmitt, M., Themelis, N.J., Bronicki, L.Y., Söder, L., Vega, L.A. (eds) Renewable Energy Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5820-3_882

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