Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

1-31-1987

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Lawrence Jay Schmerzler

Second Advisor

Harry Herman

Third Advisor

P. Hrycak

Abstract

This thesis gives an overview of the feasibility and economics of a resource recovery project. The feasibility study of a resource recovery project is done by analyzing its markets, economics, and environmental aspects. The use of market development, accurate capital and operating cost estimation procedures and environmental impact analysis help in predicting fairly accurately the feasibility of a resource recovery facility and also gives a good estimate of the economics of the project.

The thesis also discusses the different system design that are or were used in waste-to-energy conservation. It is quite evident from the discussion that the only two systems that are both economical feasible and technically sound are Incineration (i.e. Mass and RDF burning technologies) and Energy Recovery from landfill gas. Since, most of the plants in the US use incineration technology, the general performance characteristics and the energy product options available for these systems have also been discussed. It can be seen from the system performance characteristics that a resource recovery project using the above technology has a fairly high overall efficiency (18-24%), just about (5-10%) less than that for thermal power plants making it the most suitable technology in converting waste to energy.

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