WtERT 2010 Annual Conference – Columbia University, New York – WtERT® – Global Waste-to-Energy Research & Technology Council

Overview

On October 7-8, the Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council hosted its 2010 Bi-Annual Meeting at Columbia University in the City of New York. There were 28 presentations and 15 posters in the meeting. In 2010, the Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council requested nominations of urban areas that are close to attaining the ideals of Sustainable Waste Management. The awards were given to the City of Vienna (Austria) for being one of the cleanest (as well as “most livable”!) cities in the world and to Lee County of the State of Florida (U.S.A.) for being one of the first urban areas in the U.S. to approach “zero waste” by minimizing landfilling.

WtERT greatly appreciates all the speakers and participants for their contribution to the 2010 WtERT Meeting.

Speakers & Presentations

Keynote & Opening

Dean Morton Friedman, School of Engineering and Applied Science, ColumbiaUniversity

Session Chair: Mr. Ted Michaels, President, Energy Recovery Council, U.S.A.

Prof. Nickolas J. Themelis (Stanley-Thompson Prof. Emeritus, Columbia University) – Contributions of the Earth Engineering Center to understanding the impacts of waste management on climate change: 2008-2010
Mr. Lim Siak Heng (National Environmental Agency, Singapore) – Towards Sustainable Solid Waste Management System in Singapore
Prof. Carlo Vandecasteele (Department Chemical Engineering, University of Leuven, Belgium) – Monitoring of dioxins and other POPs in a grate furnace WTE combusting household waste; and in a fluidized bed WTE co-combusting RDF/ASR and sludge
Dr. Antonio Bonomo (A2A s.p.a., Brescia, Italy) – How WTE is contributing to solve the waste management crisis in Naples, Italy
Dr. Johan De Greef (Technology Manager, Keppels Segher, Belgium) – Increasing WTE thermal efficiency – Sharing energy with industry (Manchester, U.K. and Amotfors, Sweden)
Prof. Mingjiang Ni (Institute for Sustainable Energy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China) – A New CFB incineration technology for power generation
Ms. Bettina Kamuk (Ramboll Engineering, Copenhagen, Denmark) – Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of Various WtE Flue Gas Treatment Technologies
Dr. Juergen Vehlow (Institute for Technical Chemistry – Division of Thermal Waste Treatment, Germany) – Trends in utilizing WTE bottom ash in Europe

Session Chair: Prof. Marco Castaldi, Earth & Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, U.S.A.

Prof. Morton A. Barlaz (North Carolina State University, U.S.A.) – Effects of Organics Diversion on Landfill Gas Generation and Comparison of Landfills and WTE
Prof. Ange Nzihou (Ecole des Mines d’Albi-Carmaux, France) – Energy and Materials from Waste and Biomass: The role of WTERT France
Mr. Jawad A. Bhatti (Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University) – Trends in recycling and means for increasing plastics recycling
Dr. Mariusz Grabda (Nakamura Group, Tohoku University, Japan) – Utilization of BFR plastics in recovery of valuable metals during thermal treatment with solid wastes
Prof. Ah-Hyung (Alissa) Park (Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University) – Sustainable Energy Conversion of Solid Wastes with Integrated In-Situ Carbon Sequestration
Mr. Rob van Haaren (Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University) – Results of the BioCycle/Columbia 2010 survey of waste generation and disposal in the U.S.
Prof. Faye McNeill (Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University) – Ultrafine particle emissions from waste transportation averted as a result of WTE: A case study of the New York metropolitan area
Prof. Marco Castaldi (Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University) – WTERT research on resource recovery from wastes by gasification

Session Chair: Prof. Nickolas Themelis, Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, U.S.A.

Mr. Jan Manders (Confederation of European Waste to Energy Plants (CEWEP), Brussels, Belgium) – Developments on WtE across Europe
Mr. Antonis Mavropoulos (International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) – ISWA’s White Paper on Waste Management and Climate Change
Mr. Rainer Kronberger (City of Vienna, Austria) – Sustainable Waste Management in Vienna
Mr. Lindsey J. Sampson(Lee County, Florida, U.S.A.) – The Lee County Integrated Solid Waste Management System
Prof. Kunio Yoshikawa (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan) – Gasification and Liquefaction Alternatives to Incineration for MSW Recycling Developed and Commercialized in Japan
Mr. Emmanuel Serna (Aachen and Munich Universities, Germany) – WtERT-Germany: Introduction to WtERT Germany: History, Goals and Activities
Mr. John Foden (Canadian Energy-From-Waste Coalition (CEFWC), Canada) – WTERT-Canada: The State of EFW (WTE) in Canada: An Overview of Policy Options and Political Challenges
Prof. Xiao Dazhi (Chongqing University, China) – WTERT-China: Progress Report 2009-2010
Dr. Efstratios Kalogirou (SYNERGIA, Greece) – WTERT-Greece: Waste Management in Greece & Potential for Waste-To-Energy
Dr. Sergio Guerreiro (University of Brazil, Brazil) – WTERT-Brazil: WTE status in Brazil. What is needed to make WTE plants feasible in Brazil
Dr. Chris Cheeseman (Imperial College, U.K.) – WTERT-U.K.: Public perception and Reaction of WTERT-U.K.
Mr. Dennis Ranahan (Regional Utility Planning, Metro Vancouver, Canada) – Integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management Plan

Conference Photo Gallery

Poster Session

The WtERT 2010 meeting included a poster session showcasing emerging research, early-stage technologies, and academic contributions in waste-to-energy and sustainable waste management.

Earth Engineering Center – Organizations Achievements Part1 | Part 2
Ranjith Annepu – Sustainable Waste Management in India
Jawad Bhatti – Means for Increasing Material or Energy Recovery from Plastics
Caroline Ducharme – Analysis of Thermal Plasma -Assisted Waste-to-Energy Processes
Garrett Fitzgerald – Methane Production via in-situ Point Heat Source Thermal Stimulation from Gas Hydrates
Alex Frank – Numerical Modeling of Pollution Formation in WTE Reactors using CFD
Naomi Klinghoffer – Investigation into Properties of Ash from Biomass Gasification
McKenzie Kohn – Auto-thermal and Dry Reforming of Landfill Gas using a Rh/yAl2O3 Monolithic Catalyst
Masato Nakamura – Numerical Analysis of Flow and Mixing Phenomena of MSW Particles on a Reverse Acting Grate
Natalí Ganfer Pelcman – A Study on an IC Engine Operated on Landfill Gas with Syngas Addition
Amanda Simson – Catalyst Deactivation and Regeneration Studies Reforming Ethanol/Gasoline Blends
L. Elefsiniotis – Three-Stage Steady-Bed Gasifier Concept
I.-S. Antonopoulos – Estimation of MSW Heating Values in Greece
P. Samaras – Characteristics and Treatment Processes for Fly Ash from WTE Facilities

WtERT 2010 Awards

Awards Dinner & Sponsorship

WTERT gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship of the Reception by the Beta Analytic Inc. of Miami Florida and the sponsorship of the 2010 Awards Dinner by the Materials and Energy Recovery (MER) Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The WTERT 2010 Awards are bronze sculptures by famous Greek sculptor Dimitris Armakolas. They are evocative of the harnessing of power by humans and are titled by the artist “Souvenir”.

WTERT 2010 International Awards

The WTERT 2010 Award goes to the City of Vienna (Austria) for being one of the cleanest (as well as “most livable”!) cities in the world. Presented by Prof. N.J. Themelis; received on behalf of the City of Vienna by Mr. Rainer Kronberger, vice-head of the Waste Management Department (MA 48) of Vienna.

WTERT 2010 National Awards

The WTERT 2010 Award goes to Lee County of the State of Florida (U.S.A.) for being one of the first urban areas in the U.S. to approach “zero waste”. Presented by Prof. M.J. Castaldi; received on behalf of Lee County by Mr. Lindsey J. Sampson, Director of the Solid Waste Division of Lee County.

WTERT also salutes the finalists of the WTERT Awards: The caliber of the finalists in this competition was so high that it was very difficult to select the final winners. The finalists were (alphabetically): Berlin (Germany), Greater Copenhagen (Denmark), Malmo (Sweden), Marion County-Oregon (U.S.), Munich (Germany), the island-nation of Singapore, Metro Vancouver (Canada), and Zurich (Switzerland).