Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in Malaysia for Energy Recovery

Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation that grows continuously without proper management become worrying phenomenon. Currently, Malaysia is dependent on landfills with almost 85% of waste collected ending up in dumpsites. In order to propose an alternative for solid waste management plan instead of landfill, and to develop a waste-to-energy (WtE) system, the details study of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated is crucial. This paper presents a proposal for energy recovery to produce RDF by studying the characterization of MSW generated in Malaysia; the physical and chemical properties (proximate and ultimate analysis, calorific value or energy content, and thermal analysis) of the waste components to produce a high-quality RDF. The raw MSW sample consisted of 45% organics and food waste, 13% plastics, 9% papers, and 12% diapers. For raw MSW sample, total moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, and fixed carbon were 14.60%, 7.05%, 69.35% and 9% respectively. Gross calorific value is 4538 kcal/kg and carbon content are 45%. The optimum produced RDF sample was found at operating temperature 400°C with total moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, and fixed carbon were 0.75%, 21.65%, 48.35% and 29.22% respectively. Gross calorific value is 6600.15 kcal/kg and carbon content are 64%.