Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
E
NERGY
R
ECOVERY
S
YSTEMS FROM
I
NDUSTRIAL
P
LANT
W
ASTE
:
P
LANNING OF AN
I
NDUSTRIAL
P
ARK
L
OCATED IN THE
S
OUTH OF
I
TALY
Silvana Kühtz
∗
, Francesca Intini, Sara Bellini and
Giovanna Matarrese
Università della Basilicata, Facoltà di Ingegneria DIFA - via Lazzazzera,
75100 Matera, Italy
A
BSTRACT
In this chapter, we compare environmental and technological aspects of some
innovative energy recovery systems from industrial waste. We present the results of a
research study that we are conducting on an Italian firm that produces polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) supports for waterproof membranes from plastic bottles. For this firm
(and all of the firms in the same industrial park), the waste represents only an undesired
cost rather than a potential energy source. We first compared a traditional thermal waste
treatment with a molecular dissociator and then with a specific gasifier. All three
technologies can be fed with basically every type of waste, and can produce electric
and/or thermal energy. In particular, the latter two produce syngas that can be burned
after depuration to produce energy. A cost-benefit analysis is then carried out to plan how
the whole industrial park can use the industrial waste to produce the energy it needs, with
economic and environmental benefits for all.
I
NTRODUCTION
The gradual depletion of environmental resources is one of the most complex and
pressing problems facing the world today. Too often in the past people have failed to take into
account that the environment is not an inexhaustible resource and that its indiscriminate use
