Waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities have been established worldwide as a sustainable method for the disposal of residual waste. In the present study the following competing WtE systems were compared: (1) municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) with energy recovery; (2) co-incineration of waste in old lignite or coal-fired power plants; (3) substitute [refuse-derived fuel (RDF)] incinerators with energy recovery; and (4) co-incineration of defined waste fractions in cement kilns. In general the municipal solid waste incinerators in Europe are designed for a broad range of municipal and commercial waste without a pre-treatment of the waste. All other WtE processes including the cement kilns require a pre-treatment and are more limited in terms of RDF composition; namely particle size, chlorine content, calorific value. As to Germany, the emission limit values for all facilities are similar. A sensitivity analysis of the economics of boilers using RDF and municipal solid waste leads to the conclusion that the feasibility of RDF incinerators might partially recover if the prices for primary energy increase again. On the other hand, pre-treatment of waste leads to higher costs for RDF. Incineration and recycling capacities are large enough in middle Europe to avoid landfilling of organic waste. The steep decline of gate fees observed in some national spot markets is a clear indicator of an already existing overcapacity. Considering the enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions saved by WtE facilities in comparison with landfilling, free capacities of WtE installations should be used to incinerate waste from EU member states where waste disposal is still predominantly based on landfilling.
In vielen Bereichen der Kreislaufwirtschaft zeichnen sich deutliche Veränderungen ab, die zu großen Teilen durch den Einzug der Informatisierung in die moderne industrielle Produktion bedingt sind. Mit diesem Beitrag sollen die Auswirkungen dieser Veränderungen auf die Stoffströme der Kreislaufwirtschaft und insb. der Recyclingindustrie aus Sicht der letzteren näher beleuchten und, wo möglich, Wege aufgezeigt werden, sich auf die neue Situation einzustellen und weiterhin marktgerecht und wirtschaftlich zu agieren.
Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) thermometers are commonly used for temperature compensation of FBG strain sensors. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the thermal coupling between the underlying substrate and the respective sensors causes a delayed response to temperature changes. This can be explained by the heat capacity of the underlying substrate causing a temperature gradient between the surrounding and the substrate. In this contribution, we apply our theoretical result to achieve an improved accuracy in the strain measurement by an approximate factor of up to 3.5. In addition, experiments are carried out in which the thermal coupling in the system is adjusted by using thermal conduction paste. The results also show significantly improved temperature compensation.
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