Feasibility study of waste to energy and power generation of Dhaka city

Abstract

Bangladesh is a developing country with high population density and rich in natural resource. People of Bangladesh are gradually shifting from agricultural to a more service oriented economy. This means for millions of Bangladeshi now have the ability to consume an enormous variety of goods and services that were previously either unavailable or unaffordable. From small electronic items, such as cell phones, to large consumer goods like refrigerators and cars, Bangladeshi consumption has been steadily increasing and shows no signs of snoozing anytime soon. The flip side of this consumption boom is that the amount of waste generated has and will continue to increase correspondingly. Dhaka is the capital city of the country; people from different part of the country migrate for livelihood. So the City’s population rises rapidly and current population is about 14.6 million and per capita waste generation is about 0.42 kg per day. Within 2030 it will be 0.73 kg per day. Collection rate of waste is 65% includes recycled 15% of total waste generated in Dhaka. Given its increasing population trend, rapid expansion of urban areas, and scarcity of land due to very dense population, Dhaka needs a solution to its burgeoning solid waste management problem that will be sustainable, cost effective, and minimizes public health, ecological, and climate change impacts. Waste-to-energy (WtE) is a strategy that is effective, environmentally sound, and economically beneficial. There are many technologies for converting waste into energy. For example direct combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, composting, plasma arc, refused derived fuel etc. For Dhaka city composting ( i.e. anaerobic digestion ) will be a convenient technology because waste generated in Dhaka city is commonly organic material (vegetables, food, paper etc.) which contribute 65% to the total waste and has high moisture content (50%-60%). The main constraint for waste to energy facility is high initial investment. However in this study the initial investment assumes $50 million base on the different WtE facility around the world and the land will lend from government at the dump site and payback period will be 7.1 years at the end of the project total revenue earned by the project Tk 247.87 crore.