Volume 5, Issue 1, January – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Energy Prospect of Nigeria’s Municipal Solid Waste

Ojedokun, Olushola Ayobami,
B. Eng in Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria [2006]

Abstract:- Waste is an indispensable part of human life. This paper evaluates the power resource value of
Biological, Medical, Agricultural, Industrial, Domestic Nigeria’s Municipal Solid Waste. It also captures Solid
wastes are generated continuously across races and Waste recovery strategies in place in Nigeria and how
places on the planet. It certainly cannot be eliminated the country could optimally exploit the man-made ‘filth’
but can be profitably managed. for her economic gains by emulating benchmarked
practices.
As a by-product of human and economic activities,
waste could be in the form of Gas (Vented gas/Flare), I. INTRODUCTION
liquid (Effluent/leachate) or Solid (Municipal Solid
Waste/particulates). Municipal solid waste is defined as household waste,
commercial solid waste, non-hazardous sludge,
Waste (which typical has large content of Solid conditionally exempt, small quantity hazardous waste, and
part) which might have seemingly been of no industrial solid waste (EPA-530-R-95-023 1995). MSW
significance a while ago is now being recognised as a includes food waste, rubbish from residential areas,
wealth. By research and technological innovations, heap commercial and industrial wastes, and construction and
of waste is presently sought in the modern world as a demolition debris3.
valuable resource for energy derivation. Countries like
Norway and Germany import waste for energy Though Solid waste have been traditional landfilled or
generation6. combusted, modern techniques of waste management now
includes reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery.
Nigeria recent population estimate hovers around
203 Million10. This populace generates an annual solid Reduction of Waste, Reuse of Waste and Recycling of
waste of more than 32 million tonnes of which only Waste are basically waste management techniques aimed at
about 20% -30 % is collected for reducing energy consumption level. However, realities
treatment/management; the remaining proportion is have emerged that Energy can be derived directly from
recklessly disposed12. waste via controlled Recovery method.

Nigeria can minimize waste by intensely exploring For a Standard Waste Management practice, after
waste control measures such as Reducing, Reusing, primary resource recovery from Waste, a secondary energy
Recycling or the Nation can maximally tap from the resource recovery would be carried out during
enormous energy potential of waste via multiscale/ combustion/incineration.
large-scale recovery mechanism & systems.
Below is a flow chart diagram illustrating the overall
Waste Management process.

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Volume 5, Issue 1, January – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165

Fig 1:- Diagram of Waste Hierarchy

(Source: Wikipedia14)

The diagram indicates recovery of material and  Waste-to-Energy

Energy could be achieved after separation (or segregation) Waste-to-Energy (WTE) or energy-from-waste is the
of waste and incineration/composting respectively. At that process of generating energy in the form of electricity
point, a Waste-to-Energy Installation is vital for recovery of and/or heat from the incineration of waste11.
Energy form Waste via incineration.
Below is the Schematic diagram on the Process
involved in harnessing Energy from Waste.

Fig 2:- Waste to Energy Incineration Plant Diagram

(Source: Green Living Answers5)

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Volume 5, Issue 1, January – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Waste-To-Energy Technology
Proven technologies used for Derivation of Energy from Waste consists:
 Thermal Technology (Direct Combustion): Mass Burn & Refuse Derived Fuel
 Pyrolysis
 Gasification: Conventional and Plasma Arc types

Tabulated below are short descriptions of the technologies

Technology Description
Thermal Technology: Mass Burn Mass Burn is the process of completely burning the waste while getting a residue of non-
and Refuse Derive Fuel combustible material. Useful Heat energy is generated during the burning
Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is the process of removing the recyclable and non-combustible
from the municipal solid waste (MSW) and producing a combustible material, by
shredding or pelletizing the remaining waste11.
Pyrolysis Thermo-chemical decomposition of organic material, at elevated temperatures without the
participation of oxygen 11. The process involves the simultaneous change of chemical
composition and physical phase that is irreversible11. Pyrolysis occurs at temperatures
>750°F (400°C) in a complete lack of oxygen atmosphere11. The syn-gas that is produced
during the reaction is generally converted to liquid hydrocarbons, such as biodiesel11. By-
products from the process are generally unconverted carbon and/or charcoal and ash 11.
Gasification Conventional Gasification is the thermal conversion of organic materials at temperature of
1,000 °F – 2,800 °F (540 °C – 1,540 °C), with a limited supply of air or oxygen (sub-
stoichiometric atmosphere)11. This is not combustion and therefore there is no burning11.
Gasification uses a fraction of the air/oxygen that is generally needed to combust a
given material and thus creates a low to medium Btu syn-gas11.
Plasma Arc Gasification is the process that utilizes a plasma torch or plasma arc using
carbon electrodes, copper, tungsten, hafnium, or zirconium to initiate the temperature
resulting in the gasification reaction11. Plasma temperature temperatures range from 4,000
°F – 20,000 °F (2,200 °C – 11,000 °C), creating not only a high value syn-gas but also
high value sensible heat11.
Table 1:- Description of WTE Technologies

Another Waste-to-Energy Technology which is not municipal solid waste in environmentally sound and
common compared to the Thermal/Composting technology sustainable manner 9.
is Landfill Gas Collection
Public private partnership Project to build an
The Landfill Gas, which is mostly Methane, is Integrated Waste Management Facility with various
collected from Landfill Sites for applicable energy use. components such as Sanitary Landfill, Scrap Metal
Recovery & Recycling Plant, Material Recovery Facility,
Of all the technologies listed above, the thermal Plastic Recycling Plant, Compost Plant, Leachate
process(incineration/combustion) is most popular. Treatment Plant, Biomedical Waste Incinerator etc., is
slowly underway in Nigeria due to inadequate funding9.
With the concept of Waste-to-Energy Process extensively
outlined above, let us X-ray Nigeria’s Initiatives/Models Eight incinerators have been installed and
put in place to recover Energy from Waste commissioned at eight federal medical institutions spread
across the country while Installation is on-going in about
II. BACKGOUND other fifteen federal institutions9.

Solid waste management in Nigeria is characterized Despite the efforts/initiatives, the Nation’s Waste-to
by inefficient collection methods, insufficient coverage of -Energy conversion rate is currently insignificant compared
the collection system and improper disposal9. Disposal in to the tonnes of waste routinely generated.
most Nigeria cities include, co-disposal of hazardous and
municipal waste in open, unlined dumps, open burning of Based on current realities such as poor collection
municipal solid wastes, dumping on water bodies and in efficiencies, Nigeria’s exploitable Waste-to-Energy
other unauthorized places9. capacity from Municipal Solid Waste is below
3800 GWh/year, with all the states having less than 50 MW
The Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria has capacity.
over the years embarked on intervention programmes to
assist the state and local governments manage their

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Volume 5, Issue 1, January – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Nigeria is expected to launch unto the full Energy III. METHOD/DERIVATIONS
prospect of her annually generated waste via aggressive
approaches & Mechanisms. Details of the Energy content of Waste is calculated by determining
Method/Derivations subheading below gives a hint at the the calorific value (CV) of the composition of referenced
Quantity of Energy derivable from Nigeria’s Solid Waste. waste.

The table below shows the heat content (or calorific

value) of different material a waste could be composed of.

Type of material CV (MJ / kg) CV (kCal / kg)

Medical waste 19 - 24 4540 - 5735

Industrial & hazardous waste 22 - 40 5257 - 9558

Domestic waste (without recycling) 7 - 16 1673 - 3823

Domestic waste (after recycling) 10 - 14 2389 - 3345

PVC 41 9797

Dry wood 14,4 3441

Paper 13,5 3226

Table 2:- Calorific Value of Waste Composition
(Source: Igniss Energy7)

Based on trend of generated waste composition along Also, an Energy Information Administration May
with corresponding Calorific content, some 2007 Publication indicates one (1) Ton of Municipal Solid
National/international energy organizations have valued the Waste has an average range value of 10 -11 Million British
energy content of specific Municipal Solid Waste Volume. Thermal Unit4.

Source(s) of Data that are used for computing the  Computation

Energy content of Nigeria’s yearly waste are highlighted By making proportionate computations, Nigeria can
next. extract up to 358 trillion Btu fuel Value from more than 32
Million tons of Waste generated annually by her populace
 Data Sources if managed properly.
According to a US Department of Energy Document,
138 Million short tons of Municipal Solid Waste has about The following table shows source/factor(s) used to
1.4 x 1015 British Thermal Unit (1.4 quadrillion Btu) fuel calculate the British Thermal Unit (Btu) Fuel Value of
value associated with it3. Nigeria’s Waste produced yearly.

Waste Volume (in Waste Volume (in British Thermal Unit (BTU) Factor(s)
tons) short tons) Fuel Value of Waste
US Data 138 Million 1.4 * 1015
Nigeria 32 Million 35.28 Million 358 * 1012 [1 short ton = 0.907 ton]

Table 3:- Nigeria’s Waste British Thermal Unit Fuel Value; including Computation Factors

In terms of Electricity, an electric energy worth 105 energy could be realized from the load of Waste shunned
Terawatt-Hour (Twh) could be obtained from Nigeria’s out yearly.
annual waste generated. However, considering 25%
conversion installation inefficiency, about 26 TWh of Highlighted in the table below are the factors
considered for arriving at the 26 TWh Energy value.

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Volume 5, Issue 1, January – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
British Thermal Unit Waste Energy Content Waste Energy Content Factor
(BTU) Fuel Value of equivalent in Watt-Hour Unit (considering average
Waste Waste-to-Energy
Installation efficiency)
358 * 1012 105 Terawatt-Hour (Twh) 26 Terawatt-Hour [1BTU = 293.07 * 10-6 Kwh]

Factor
Incineration conversion efficiency for Electricity generation 1: 15-27% (21% average)
Gasification Efficiency1: 30%
Hence, 25% typical average efficiency of WTE Plant (Incineration & Gasification combined) used
Table 4:- Nigeria’s Waste Electrical Energy Equivalent (in Watt-Hour unit); including Computation Factors

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ISSN No:-2456-2165
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