Comparative Analysis of Incineration and Gasification of Zawia ׳S Municipal Solid Waste(Msw) to Produce Electricity

This paper presents an overview on different municipal solid waste (MSW) systems (waste to energy systems), which are recognized as a renewable source of energythat could be implemented in Zawia city- Libya, pointing out the main advances, setbacks and challenges. The focus was on two popular methods of MSW systems which are incineration and gasification taking into account the impact of CO2 emission to the environment.The management of MSW is based on anunderstanding of MSW׳s composition and its physicochemical characteristics, therefore the total amount of MSW produced in Zawia city was estimated and analysed. The MSW׳s heating value was also evaluated as 10293 kJ/kg. The results of the study show that gasification of 400 tons/day of Zawia ׳s MSW produces about 12 MW of Electricity while Incineration produces 6.14 MW, CO2 emission from gasification process was 9.041 tons/hr (216.984 tons/day) which is half the CO2emission from incineration which is 18.08 tons/hr (433.968 tons/day).