Determining the biomass fraction of mixed waste fuels: A comparison of existing industry and (14)C-based methodologies

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 35; pp. 293 - 300
• Main Authors: Muir, G K P, Hayward, S, Tripney, B G, Cook, G T, Naysmith, P, Herbert, B M J, Garnett, M H, Wilkinson, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-01-2015
• Subjects: ACCURACY; ALGORITHMS; Biofuels - analysis; BIOMASS; CARBON 14; Carbon Radioisotopes; DATA ACQUISITION; DISSOLUTION; ELECTRICITY; ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; Equipment Design; FLUE GAS; INDUSTRY; Mass Spectrometry - methods; MASS SPECTROSCOPY; POWER GENERATION; RELIABILITY; SCINTILLATION COUNTING; SORTING; United Kingdom; Waste Management - instrumentation; Waste Management - methods; WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS; Waste Products - analysis; Selective dissolution; C (AMS/LSC) methods; Bioenergy; Energy-from-waste (EfW) plant; Manual sort
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.09.023

(14)C analysis of flue gas by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) were used to determine the biomass fraction of mixed waste at an operational energy-from-waste (EfW) plant. Results were converted to bioenergy (% total) using mathematical algorithms and assessed against existing industry methodologies which involve manual sorting and selective dissolution (SD) of feedstock. Simultaneous determinations using flue gas showed excellent agreement: 44.8 ± 2.7% for AMS and 44.6 ± 12.3% for LSC. Comparable bioenergy results were obtained using a feedstock manual sort procedure (41.4%), whilst a procedure based on selective dissolution of representative waste material is reported as 75.5% (no errors quoted). (14)C techniques present significant advantages in data acquisition, precision and reliability for both electricity generator and industry regulator.