THESIS TOPIC:
INVESTIGATING THE FEASIBILITY OF A MODEL
THAT CAN CONVERT MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
TO ENERGY
NAME:
JOSEPH YANKSON FORBAH JNR.
1
PRESENTATION OUTLINE §  Background to study
§  Problem statement
§  Research questions / research objectives
§  Relevance of thesis
§  Literature review
§  Methodology
§  Results and analysis
§  Conclusion and recommendations
2
BACKGROUND OF STUDY •  Installed capacity (2013) was 2,852 megawatt
(MW),
•  Available dependable capacity for 2014 was 2,267
MW,
•  Ghana required (2014) 15,725 – 16,500 (GWh),
•  Demand for electricity was between 14,571 –
15351 GWh,
•  Available electricity was between 13,011 – 13,973
GWh.
3 PROBLEM STATEMENT Ø The state of the energy
situation
–  Frequent power outages
and load shed (dumsor)
due to inadequate power
supply
Ø  T h e s t a t e o f t h e
environment
–  Pollution from solid
waste generation,
storage, collection and
disposal.
4 RESAERCH QUESTIONS •  What are the different components of MSW,
types of combustion systems and how much
biogas is produced by the different components?
•  What are the different types of methods used to
convert waste and/or biomass to energy?
•  What are the various uses to which biogas/bifuel
developed can be put to?
5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES •  To characterize municipal solid waste into fiber
(biomass), glass, plastic and metal.
•  To investigate the feasibility of converting fiber
(biomass) into biofuel (biogas) and subsequently
used to generate electricity or for transportation.
•  To do cost benefit analysis including financial
analysis of converting waste to fuel and then
electricity.
6 RELEVANCE OF THESIS •  Opportunities to augment national available grid
capacity through Waste to Energy technology.
•  Source of information on composition of Solid
Waste.
•  Avert the numerous challenges of sanitation to
have and enjoy cleaner environment.
•  Reference material to those willing to work
further in this field in future.
7 LITERATURE REVIEW •  Solid Waste Generation, disposal and Management
–  Pfeffer, (1992)
–  Lumley and Armstrong, (2004)
•  Municipal Solid Waste
–  Fobil and Carboo, (2005)
–  Kothari et al, (2010)
•  Waste Characterisation in Ghana
–  Wikner, E. (2009)
–  Frempong, V.E. (2013)
–  Kuleape et al, (2014)
–  Kpodo, S. (2014)
•  Techniques to Convert Biomass to Energy
–  Voelker, (1997)
–  Akkaya and Demir, (2009)
–  Odizuru-Abangwu, I. (2010)
–  Amber et al, (2012)
8 METHODOLOGY •  METHOD OF DATA CLOLLECTION
–  Secondary data was used.
•  POPULATION OF THE STUDY
–  MMDAs in Ghana.
–  The ten (10) Regions in Ghana.
•  SAMPLING AND SAMPLE SIZE
–  Purposive and Simple random sampling were used.
–  A total of 4 MMDAs from 4 different regions.
–  2 Metropolitan, 1 Municipal and 1 District assembly.
•  METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
–  Microsoft Excel was used to organise and analyse data.
9 RESULTS & ANALYSIS Average % Composition of Waste in Ghana
Textiles, 2%
Inert Materials, 19%
Glass, 2%
Metal Scraps, 3%
Plastics, 10%
Organic Materials,
58%
Paper, 7%
The main attributes of waste as a fuel are:
Source: AMA, KMA, TAC & ASOUGYAMAN, 2014 Water content (47%), Calorific value (5,234kcal/kg) and Burnable content (58%).
MSW in Ghana has the right components, quantities and required attributes as a fuel to generate power.
10 RESULTS & ANALYSIS Region
Western
Central
Greater Accra
Volta
Eastern
Ashanti
Brong Ahafo
Northern
Upper East
Upper West
Total
Total
Population
2010
2,376,021
2,201,863
4,010,054
2,118,252
2,633,154
4,780,380
2,310,983
2,479,461
1,046,545
702,110
24,658,823
Quantity of
Projected
Waste
Total
Generated
Population
Daily (t) @
2014 @ 10%
0.5kg/capita
2,605,759
2,414,762
4,397,787
2,323,067
2,887,755
5,242,597
2,534,433
2,719,201
1,147,736
769,997
27,043,093
1,303
1,207
2,199
1,162
1,444
2,621
1,267
1,360
574
385
13,522
Organic
Content of
Waste
Generated
Daily (t) @
58%
756
700
1,275
674
837
1,520
735
789
333
223
7,842
Source: GSS and AMA, 2014
MSW in Ghana has the right components, quantities and required attributes as a fuel to generate power.
11 RESULTS & ANALYSIS How much energy is produced by Method?
1 tonne of MSW yields 14.4 kW by the Thermal and 11.5 kW by the Biological.
Region
Western
Central
Greater Accra
Volta
Eastern
Ashanti
Brong Ahafo
Northern
Upper East
Upper West
Total
Quantity of
Organic
Waste
Content of
Generated
Waste
Daily (t) @ Generated
0.5kg/capita Daily (t)
1,303
1,207
2,199
1,162
1,444
2,621
1,267
1,360
574
385
13,522
756
700
1,275
674
837
1,520
735
789
333
223
7,842
Energy
content
Thermal
process
(MW)
Energy
content
Biological
process (MW)
18.76
17.39
31.66
16.73
20.79
37.75
18.25
19.58
8.26
5.54
194.71
14.98
13.88
25.29
13.36
16.60
30.14
14.57
15.64
6.60
4.43
155.50
Preferred Process is THERMAL, with 194.71 MW per day
12 RESULTS & ANALYSIS Advantages of Pyrolysis over
Incineration/Gasification
Types of combustion systems:
•  Pyrolysis,
• 
Control the emission of harmful
substances,
•  Incineration,
• 
Facility is self-sustainable,
• 
No wastewater effluent from gas cleaning
system
• 
It is less expensive
• 
Has less residuals to be sent to landfill
disposal,
• 
Recovered non-oxidized metals can be
further used
• 
It is able to treat both low and high
calorific waste.
•  Gasification.
Preferred Combustion System is PYROLYSIS .
13 RESULTS & ANALYSIS Description
1 t of waste produces electricity Power
1 t of waste produces electrical energy in a day
13,522 t of waste a day produces electricity
In a year(365 days), electricity produced
Price of 1kWh electricity in Ghana
Revenue from electricity produced
Annual Revenue
Processing Cost of (disposal and transport) 1 t waste
Cost of collection and transport of 13522 t waste
Cost of collection and transport of waste for a year
Cost of pyrolysis plant
Cost of 194.7MW pyrolysis plant
Net Revenue
Payback period
Amount
Unit
14.4
345.60
4,673,203.20
1,705,719,168.00
kW
kWh
kWh
kWh
0.19
887,908.61
324,086,641.92
USD
USD
USD
11.73
158,591.36
57,885,845.68
USD
USD
USD
11,500.00 USD/kW
2,239,165,000.00
USD
266,200,796.24
8.41
USD
Years
Investment Cost= $2.24 Billion, Net Revenue = $266.20 Million per annum & Payback Period = 8.41 years
14 CONCLUSION •  MSW in Ghana has the 58% organic matter,
47% water content and net calorific value of
5,234 kCal/kg – RO1
•  MSW in Ghana can be converted to energy by
thermal and specifically Pyrolysis process – RO2
•  From 4.9 Mtpa of MSW, 71,069 MW of power,
yielding a net positive revenue of $266.2 M and
8.41 years payback period – RO3
15 RECOMMENDATIONS •  The Volta River Authority (VRA), should consider
investing in waste to energy plants to increase
the power supply in Ghana.
•  Individual power producers should be
encouraged to invest in the waste to energy
conversion, as economics looks good.
•  The ministries must collaborate to come out with
a policy to implement waste to energy
technology to help improve on the nation’s
sanitation and power situation.
16 END OF PRESENTATION THANK YOU
ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS &
CONTRIBUTIONS
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