M.S. Thesis: Pre-feasibility Study of Using the Circulating Fluid Bed (CFB) Waste-to-Energy Technology in Mexico City
By Andres Estrada Wiechers
Advisor: Prof. Nickolas J. Themelis
Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering
Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science
Columbia University
January 2015
The project evaluated for Mexico City is a three-line, 700,800 ton/year WTE plant, which would reduce landfilling by 30%, still allowing improvements in recycling and composting in the future.
To plan for the project, the Earth Engineering Center Guidebook for WTE in Latin America was used as a guide for the pre-feasibility analysis, using as a reference three previous case studies. The capital cost of this plant was estimated, using information provided by Zhejiang University, at US$185 million installed in Mexico City. The projected gate fee of US$20 was estimated after reviewing the current costs of the City in transporting and landfilling MSW in a survey conducted by the City government. The electricity price of US$90/MWh was estimated based on current cost of production of electricity plants in Mexico and the price paid by the final users. Also, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate the financial impact changes in these assumptions would cause.