Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Solid recovered fuel'

This thesis is concerned with the production of solid recovered fuel (SRF) from municipal solid waste using mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants. It describes the first in-depth analysis of a UK MBT plant and addresses the fundamental research question: are MBT plants and their unit operations optimised to produce high quality SRF in the UK? A critical review of the process science and engineering of MBT provides timely insights into the quality management and standardisation of SRF use in Europe. Quantitative fuel property data for European SRFs are collated and analysed statistically in a detailed examination of the fuel quality achievable from MBT-derived SRF. The experimental research herein applies statistical sampling, analytical characterisation and materials flow analysis to a new generation, fully operational SRF-producing MBT plant. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first detailed analysis of this kind for a UK plant. Individual process flows from mechanically processed waste are characterised using a series of fuel properties in line with the European product standards for SRF, and confidence limits in these properties quantified. New data on SRF quality, including biogenic content, is provided. In seeking understand the variability in waste heterogeneity and its impact on SRF production in an MBT plant, material flow analysis is applied across the MBT flowsheet to compute transfer coefficients for individual unit operations. This provides a basis for critically evaluating the performance of this specific MBT and the extent to which is it optimised for SRF production. Cont/d.

The waste treatment, particularly the thermal treatment of waste has changed fundamentally in the last 20 years, i.e. from facilities solely dedicated to the thermal treatment of waste to facilities, which in addition to that ensure the safe plant operation and fulfill very ambitious criteria regarding emission reduction, resource recovery and energy efficiency as well. Therefore this contributes to the economic use of raw materials and due to the energy recovered from waste also to the energy provision. The development described had the consequence that waste and solid recovered fuels (SRF) has to be evaluated based on fuel criteria as well. Fossil fuels – coal, crude oil, natural gas etc. have been extensively investigated due to their application in plants for energy conversion and also due to their use in the primary industry. Thereby depending on the respective processes, criteria on fuel technical properties can be derived. The methods for engineering analysis of regular fuels (fossil fuels) can be transferred only partially to SRF. For this reason methods are being developed or adapted to current analytical methods for the characterization of SRF. In this paper the possibilities of the energetic utilization of SRF and the characterization of SRF before and during the energetic utilization will be discussed.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) as the heat source for a heat engine power cycle can greatly increase the overall efficiency. The maximum efficiency is limited in at least the following ways. All thermal heat engine power cycles are limited by the Carnot efficiency which is a function of the hot and cold reservoirs the cycle operates between. Another irreversibility that limits the maximum efficiency of a fossil fuel cycle is the combustion reaction. In a boiler or combustion chamber, the chemical reaction of combustion happens spontaneously, meaning that the reaction happens without being used to generate power. A fuel cell decreases this irreversibility because it generates work as the combustion reaction happens. A SOFC can do this without an expensive catalyst due to the higher operating temperature. The power generated by the fuel cell can be added to the power generated by the thermal power cycle operating from the exhaust of the SOFC. The total work generated would be more than the system would have generated from just the heat engine resulting in a higher overall efficiency for the cycle. A SOFC and a recovery power cycle was simulated in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) to solve for ideal operating conditions. The fuel cell and gas turbine system had a net power output of 136 MW and had an efficiency of 60.84%, assuming the fuel cell had an 85% fuel utilization.

La gasificació és una tecnologia prometedora per l’aprofitament energètic de biomassa i residus, ja que permet convertir els combustibles sòlids en un gas de síntesi (syngas) amb diverses aplicacions. No obstant això, algunes limitacions encara impedeixen la completa implementació d’aquesta tecnologia a escala industrial, en particular per a la producció de combustibles líquids a partir del procés Fischer-Tropsch (FT). Els principals inconvenients estan relacionats amb la qualitat del syngas, per exemple una baixa relació H2/CO i la presència d’impureses (tar i contaminants menors), i depenen de la naturalesa del material i de les condicions d’operació del procés de gasificació. Aquesta tesi es centra en la millora de la qualitat del syngas de gasificació de biomassa i combustibles sòlids recuperats (CSRs) per a la producció de combustibles líquids. El treball es divideix en dos parts principals. La primera part consisteix en estudis experimentals de gasificació de biomassa i CSRs en un reactor de llit fluïditzat a escala de laboratori per tal d’analitzar la influència de les condicions d’operació (temperatura, agents de gasificació, etc.) en el rendiment del procés i la composició del gas. Ja que els CSRs contenen més quantitats de precursors de contaminants que la biomassa, es va desenvolupar un mètode per tal de determinar la concentració de HCl, H2S, HCN i NH3 en el syngas mitjançant la potenciometria d’ió-selectiu. També, es proposa l’aplicació d’un pretractament tèrmic (torrefacció) als materials de gasificació com un mètode per tal de millorar les propietats dels materials i disminuir l’emissió de contaminants en el syngas. Per últim, la segona part d’aquest treball consisteix en un estudi tecno-econòmic per estimar els costos d’inversió i d’operació de plantes de combustibles líquids FT a partir de la gasificació de biomassa i residus, partint dels resultats obtinguts experimentalment.<br>La gasificación es una tecnología prometedora para el aprovechamiento energético de biomasa y residuos ya que permite convertir los combustibles sólidos en un gas de síntesis (syngas) con múltiples aplicaciones. Sin embargo, ciertas limitaciones todavía impiden la completa implementación de esta tecnología a escala industrial, en particular para la producción de combustibles líquidos a partir del proceso Fischer Tropsch (FT). Los principales inconvenientes están relacionados con la calidad del syngas, por ejemplo una baja relación H2/CO y la presencia de impurezas (tar y contaminantes menores), y dependen de la naturaleza del material y de las condiciones de operación del proceso de gasificación. Esta tesis se centra en la mejora de la calidad del syngas de gasificación de biomasa y combustibles sólidos recuperados (CSRs) para la producción de combustibles líquidos. El trabajo se divide en dos partes principales. La primera parte consiste en estudios experimentales de gasificación de biomasa y CSRs en un reactor de lecho fluidizado a escala de laboratorio para evaluar la influencia de las condiciones de operación (temperatura, materiales de lecho, agentes de gasificación, etc.) en el rendimiento del proceso y la composición del gas. Debido a que los CSRs contienen mayores cantidades de precursores de contaminantes que la biomasa, se ha desarrollado un método para determinar la concentración de HCl, H2S, HCN y NH3 en el syngas mediante potenciometría de ion selectivo. Además, se propone la aplicación de un pretratamiento térmico (torrefacción) a los materiales de gasificación como un método para mejorar las propiedades de los materiales y disminuir la emisión de contaminantes en el syngas. Por último, la segunda parte consiste en un estudio tecno-económico para estimar los costes de inversión y de operación de plantas de combustibles líquidos FT a partir de la gasificación de biomasa y residuos, partiendo de los resultados obtenidos experimentalmente.<br>Gasification is a promising technology for energy exploitation of biomass and waste, converting carbonaceous fuels into a synthesis gas (syngas) with multiple applications. However, technical obstacles hinder the full implementation of this technology at industrial scale, particularly for the production of liquid fuels through Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. Those challenges are mainly related to the syngas quality, such as a low H2/CO ratio and the presence of impurities (tar and minor contaminants), strongly influenced by the nature of the feedstock and the operating conditions of the gasification process. This thesis focuses on the improvement of the syngas quality from gasification of biomass and solid recovered fuels (SRFs) aiming to produce liquid fuels. The present work is divided in two main blocks. The first block corresponds to biomass and SRFs gasification experiments in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor in order to study the influence of key operating conditions (temperature, bed materials, gasification agents, etc.) on the gasification performance and gas composition. Since SRF materials contain higher amounts of contaminants precursors than biomass, a method to assess the concentration of HCl, H2S, HCN and NH3 in the syngas by means of ion-selective potentiometry was developed. The application of a thermal pretreatment (torrefaction) to the gasification feedstocks is proposed as a way to upgrade the feedstock properties and abate the release of contaminants in the syngas. The second part of this work consists in a techno-economic analysis that estimates capital and production costs of FT liquid fuel plants based on biomass and waste gasification, using as input the experimental results.

Thesis (MTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.<br>Landfill gases, principally methane, CH4 are produced from the decomposition of the municipal solid wastes deposited on landfill sites. These gases can be captured and converted into usable energy or electricity which will assist in addressing energy needs of South Africa. Its capture also reduces the problems associated with greenhouse gases. The aim of this study is to estimate gases that can be produced from the Bellville landfill site in Cape Town. The landfill gas capacity was estimated using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) model. The IPCC model showed that 48 447m3/year of landfill gas capacity was determined only in 2013. The LFGTE process plant is designed in a manner of purifying landfill gas, which at the end methane gets up being the only gas combusted. As a matter of fact 14 544kg/year of gases which consists mainly methane gets combusted. The average energy that can be produced based on the generated landfill gas capacity (methane gas) is 1,004MWh/year. This translates to R1. 05million per year at Eskom’s current tariff of R2.86 /kWh) including sales from CO2 which is a by-product from the designed process plant. A LFGTE process plant has been developed from the gathered information on landfill gas capacity and the amount of energy that can be generated from the gas. In order, to start-up this project the total fixed capital costs of this project required amounted up to R2.5 million. On the other hand, the project made a profit amounted to R3.9million, the Net profit summed up to R1. 3million and the payback time of Landfill Gas ToEnergy (LFGTE) project is 4years.The break-even of the project is on second year of the plant’s operation. The maximum profit that this project can generate is around R1. 1million. The life span of the plant is nine years. Aspen plus indicated that about 87% of pure methane was separated from CO2 and H2S for combustion at theabsorption gas outletstream. I would suggest this project to be done because it is profitable when by-products such as CO2 sales add to the project’s revenues.

Thermal treatment is recognised as a valid option within the waste management hierarchy for the recovery of the energy content of waste. Recent developments in the field are signposted from emergent technologies and the standardisation of solid recovered fuels. This work comparatively examines the fluidized bed combustion and gasification of a novel material; East London’s solid recovered fuel. Emphasis is given on the characterisation of the solid residues produced from the two thermal treatment techniques and chlorine partitioning, in particular. Chlorine mass balances are studied under steady state conditions for combustion and gasification. Furthermore, trace metals content, chlorobenzenes, major elements, crystalline structures, and leaching behaviours are compared in the two residues types. For the characterisation of these residues a series of analytical methods have been applied and compared for their efficiencies. Results indicate that gasification produces 5-6 times less HCI than combustion. Furthermore, gasification residues retain higher amounts of CI and in less water soluble forms. However, gasification residues have 3-8 times higher organochlorides load, expressed chlorobenzenes. This work generates novel data on the comparative characterisation of waste thermal treatment residues. These data contribute towards the technical confidence for further utilisation of solid recovered fuels, and the knowledge over the residues’ properties.

This thesis covers two main areas of investigation, the production and recovery of process dusts formed in the steelmaking industry, and secondly the study of the utilisation of coals for injection in a blast furnace and during co-firing with biomass in a utility boiler. These are linked by an overall aim to research the environmental and economic sustainability of industrial processes through increased process efficiency, decreased environmental impacts, and increased recovery of waste. It comprises a summary of the research contribution from six first-author peer reviewed journal publications and nine supplementary contributions for the submission of a PhD by published works. Process dust research was carried out on a 300t vessel requiring the development of a novel industrial scale isokinetic sampling methodology, capable of sampling frequently enough to measure and analyse mass flow profiles and zinc mass contamination profiles at a higher level of detail than in prior research. A new understanding of the impact of inprocess iron ore additions and waste oxide additions were correlated with additional dust and zinc mass peaks. This methodology was also used to prove that a new process change involving a galvanised scrap holding stage could be applied to successfully reduce the zinc contamination. Research into a modified hydrometallurgical leaching method for blast furnace dust gave high zinc extraction, but with low iron extraction, by the novel utilisation of the substituent group effect of carboxylic acid leaching. Further research also identified that improvements in the zinc extraction selectivity could be achieved using a non-aqueous solvent to utilise the Lewis acid effect. In terms of solid fuel utilisation, factors such as the physical properties, cost, and availability result in end users blending coals to meet their needs. The use of higher volatile matter coals was found to benefit blends with low volatile coal in the context of the blast furnace, but research conducted on a 500MW utility boiler showed that carbon monoxide and dust levels increase. Although grinding coals to a pulverised specification has been proved to benefit utilisation, new findings show that the additional grinding alters the surface chemistry and reactivity of many coals and was related to reduced burnouts compared to some larger particle size specifications. Research on industrial processes is challenging, but these papers aim to address sustainability issues in terms of the efficient use and recovery of materials.

La gazéification est un procédé de conversion thermochimique permettant de convertir un combustible solide en gaz de synthèse (syngaz), composé notamment de H2 et CO. L’utilisation de déchets non-dangereux sous forme de CSR doit, en plus de fournir une énergie avec de bons rendements, respecter les normes environnementales. Nos travaux évaluent les performances énergétiques et environnementales de la gazéification à l’air de CSR (bois, pneus, plastiques, boues de STEP) en réacteurs en lit fixe co-courant à l’échelle pilote et industrielle. Les méthodes d’analyse utilisées permettent un suivi de la composition du syngaz, ainsi que des polluants (soufrés, azotés, goudrons, métaux lourds) dans les effluents du procédé, par rapport à une ressource propre (bois brut). Les performances de gazéification du CSR Bois sont identiques au Bois. Cependant un ajout de 20%m de CSR Pneus, Plastique ou Boues de STEP à du CSR Bois conduit à une diminution de H2 et CO compensée par une augmentation d’hydrocarbures légers (CH4, C2), conduisant à un pouvoir calorifique similaire, compris entre 4,9 et 5,4 MJ/Nm3. Les performances de gazéification sont légèrement plus fiables avec les mélanges de CSR, entre 35 et 49% alors qu’elles atteignent 48 à 52% pour le Bois et le CSR Bois. Par rapport au Bois, seuls les composés azotés sont en plus grand nombre pour le CSR Bois. Pour les mélanges de CSR, les teneurs en goudrons, composés soufrés et azotés sont plus élevées. De plus, les teneurs en métaux lourds sont plus élevées dans les fines particules que dans les charbons, demandant probablement un traitement particulier<br>Gasification is a thermochemical conversion process converting solid fuel into synthetic gas (syngas), containing H2 and CO. Sorting waste to produce SRF aims to allow a better energy recovery of waste, while satisfying environmental regulations. This study focuses on energetic and environmental performances of the air gasification of SRF (wood, tire, plastics, sewage sludge) using downdraft fixed bed reactors at pilot and industrial scale. Analytical procedures allow quantification of syngas composition as well as pollutant contents (sulfur, nitrogen, tars, heavy metals) in gasification outlet streams, considering raw wood as a reference. SRF Wood gasification performances are identical to Raw Wood. However adding 20%w of SRF Tire, Plastics or Sewage Sludge to SRF Wood leads to a decrease in H2 and CO contents, balanced by an increase in light hydrocarbons (CH4, C2), resulting in a similar syngas calorific value, ranging between 4.9 and 5.4 MJ/Nm3. Gasification performances are slightly lower with SRF mixes, ranging between 35 and 49%, while reaching 48 to 52% for Raw Wood and SRF Wood. Compared to Wood, only nitrogen containing pollutants are in higher concentrations with SRF Wood. In the case of SRF mixes, tars, sulfur and nitrogen containing pollutants are in higher concentrations. Moreover, heavy metals contents are higher in fine particles than in chars, resulting in a particular post-treatment

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Concerns surrounding the world’s current dependence on quickly depleting fossil fuels and their negative environmental impacts have brought about much research into renewable and sustainable energy sources. With population and economic growth not only is this dependence increasing but there is an increasing production of waste by society in general. With space becoming a premium commodity and environmental protection a necessity, landfilling of the majority of the world’s waste is no longer feasible. Thus, research is being carried out into waste-to-energy (WTE) processes and refuse derived fuels (RDF). This study focuses on thermochemical conversion, specifically pyrolysis of solid wastes as a means of energy product recovery. Before a specific waste stream can be used in WTE or RDF contexts its composition and degradation behaviour needs to be investigated. For this reason, a full physical characterisation of the municipal solid waste (MSW) from the Stellenbosch municipality was carried out. It was found that the composition of waste differs between areas within the municipality but the composition of the waste in general compares well with international data. It was found that six main components present in the recyclables stream; namely high and low density polyethylene (HD/LDPE), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), glossy paper, office paper and newspaper would be suitable for thermochemical conversion. The thermal properties and pyrolytic degradation of these six components were investigated by multi heating rate thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) from which kinetic parameters (activation energy, pre-exponential factor and kinetic rate constants) were calculated by a differential isoconversional method. The volatiles released during degradation were identified by way of online mass spectrometry (TGA-MS) yielding six individual kinetic schemes. In order to gauge to what extent milligram pyrolytic experimentation (TGA-MS) can be used to predict larger scale pyrolytic behaviour, runs were performed on one plastic (HDPE) and one paper (glossy paper) sample on a gram scale pyrolytic plant under both slow and vacuum conditions. It was found that, especially for high thermal conductivity samples, yields on gram scale experimentation can be accurately predicted on a milligram scale. Further, the compositions of slow pyrolysis oils from glossy paper, obtained by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), were compared to TGA-MS results as well as off gases captured from TGA runs by thermal desorption (TGA/TD-GC-MS). It was found that TGA-MS and TGA/TD-GC-MS can be used to predict the main functional groups in pyrolysis oil produced on a gram scale. Thus small scale experimentation can be used to determine the suitability of different waste components for pyrolytic conversion.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kommer oor die wêreld se huidige afhanklikheid van fossielbrandstowwe en die negatiewe uitwerking op die omgewing het baie navorsing oor hernubare en volhoubare energie bronne meegebring. Bevolking en ekonomiese groei veroorsaak 'n toename in hierdie afhanklikheid en in die produksie van afval deur die samelewing. Daar is baie min onbenutte grond oop en die beskerming van die omgewing het noodsaaklik geword. Dus is storting van die meeste van die wêreld se afval nie meer ‘n aanvaarbare opsie nie. As gevolg daarvan word daar tans navorsing in afval-tot-energie (ATE) prosesse en afval afgeleide brandstowwe (AAB) gedoen. Hierdie studie fokus op die termochemiese omskakeling van afval, spesifiek pirolise, as 'n methode vir energie-produk hernuwing. Voordat 'n spesifieke afvalstroom gebruik kan word as 'n AAB moet die samestelling en afbrekings gedrag eers ondersoek word. Daarom is 'n volledige fisiese karakterisering van die munisipale afval (MA) van Stellenbosch munisipaliteit uitgevoer. Resultate het getoon dat daar ‘n verskil in die samestelling van afval tussen die gebiede binne die munisipaliteit is. Afgesien daarvan vergelyk die samestelling van die afval in die algemeen goed met internasionale data. Daar is gevind dat daar ses belangrike komponente teenwoordig is in die herwinbare stroom wat geskik sou wees vir termochemiese omskakeling, naamlik; hoë en lae digtheid poliëtileen (HD/LDPE), poli(etileen tereftelaat) (PET), glans, kantoor en koerant papier. Die termiese eienskappe en termiese afbreking van hierdie ses komponente is ondersoek deur middel van multi-verhittimgs tempo termogravimetriese analise (TGA) waaruit kinetiese parameters (aktiveringsenergie, pre-eksponensiële faktor en kinetiese snelheidskonstantes) deur 'n differensiële omskakelings metode bereken is. Die vlugtige komponente wat tydens die afbreking vrygestel is, is geïdentifiseer deur aanlyn-massaspektrometrie (TGA-MS) wat ses individuele kinetiese skemas verskaf. Om vas te stel tot watter mate milligram pirolitiese eksperimente (TGA-MS) gebruik kan word om op ‘n groter skaal die pirolitiese gedrag te kan voorspel, is eksperimentele lopies op een plastiek- (HDPE) en een papier (glans papier) monster op 'n laboratorium skaal pirolise opstelling onder stadige- en vakuum omstandighede uitgevoer. Daar is gevind dat, veral met hoë hitte geleiding komponente, die opbrengs op gram skaal eksperimente akkuraat voorspel kan word op ‘n milligram skaal. Verder was die samestelling van die stadige pirolise olies uit glans papier, wat verkry word deur gaschromatografie-massaspektrometrie (GC-MS), vergelyk met TGA-MS resultate sowel as af-gasse gevang van TGA lopies deur termiese desorpsie (TGA/TD-GC –MS). Daar is gevind dat TGA-MS en TGA/TD-GC-MS gebruik kan word om die belangrikste funksionele groepe in pirolise olie, wat op 'n gram skaal geproduseer word, te voorspel. Dus kan milligram eksperimente gebruik word om die geskiktheid van afval komponente vir pirolitiese omskakeling te bepaal.

碩士<br>國立中央大學<br>環境工程研究所<br>107<br>The purpose of this thesis is to explore the practicability of producing Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) with plastic wastes. At the same time through a waste processing plant by manual classification in Taoyuan city as the case study to analyze the economic benefit of transforming the facility into a Mechanical Treatment Facilityfor producing SRF. The study shows that, the facility processes domestic waste for 61% and waste plastic for 23% which are mainly from electrical components industry. The plastic waste is composed by PET 15.42%、PE 22.5%、PP 33.94%、ABS 0.77%、EVA 3.86% and other plastic 23.51%. According by lower heating value result of 9748.4±435.13Kcal/kg, which shows the potential of turning recycling fuel or auxiliary fuel and can be used for boiler combustion and electrical generation. It also has better combustion efficiency and lower discharge of pollutant compare to Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Base on planning that MT facility processes economic-benefit analysis of the short-term and long-term proposal, which have achieve the goals of reduce waste and higher recycle rate.

For 2010 the European Union has a goal to increase the share of renewable energyware to 12%. For 2020 the goal is 20%. One of visions to reach this is to raise the share of solid biofuels. Politicans all over ideologycal spectrum collectively propagate, that farming and waste management sector industry has developed ways to produce solid recovered fuels with reliable qualities, which are used successfully regarding economic and environmental aspects. One of prerequisites to reach this will be to achieve the standardization of solid biofuels. This leads to a need for flexible market, which is attainable only by common understanding concerning terminology, sampling and test methods. European energetically non-intensive industries and settlements are looking for ecologically friendly alternative fuels in order to save fossil fuels. And by doing so, enforce the development of fitting technical norms to facilitate the meeting of offer and demand for the product. Pressed biofuels like pellets are today playing the key role for the small house market as well as for large scale coal substitution in local power plants. The thesis is a part of scientific contemplation MSM 06/2/4a solved by professors S.Kužel and L.Kolář and is trying to answer the question: ``Is combustion of solid biofuels ecologically friendly?{\crqq}

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia do Ambiente apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra<br>É analisado o potencial dos combustíveis derivados de resíduos (CDR) e a validade das técnicas comuns de análise na caracterização de combustíveis sólidos recuperados (CSR) e aplicadas a um CDR urbano, contribuindo assim para a avaliação da viabilidade dos CDR. São avaliadas as características dos CDR, nomeadamente através da distribuição granulométrica, humidade, poder calorífico inferior, teor de cinzas, cloro e mercúrio, e do processo de decomposição em regime de pirólise, tendo por propósito a futura aplicação do CDR em unidades cimenteiras, entre outras possíveis unidades industriais de valorização energética. A viabilidade da utilização de CDR urbanos é estudada tendo em apreciação as características, qualidade e segurança que este combustível alternativo apresenta. Ao utilizar este combustível em unidades cimenteiras consegue-se uma poupança significativa em combustíveis não renováveis e evita-se, em simultâneo, a deposição em aterro com consequente redução dos custos associados. O CDR em estudo é caraterizado por ter um teor de humidade de 26,49±1,63 % e um teor de cinzas de 16,94 %. Apresenta um aspeto grosseiro e heterogéneo, constituído essencialmente por partículas inferiores a 12,5 mm de diâmetro (representam 90 % da amostra), tendo que sofrer processos de trituração ou moagem para ser utilizado como combustível pelas diversas técnicas de valorização energética. Um CDR ideal deve apresentar um elevado PCI e baixos teores de cloro e mercúrio. Segundo os ensaios este combustível exibe um baixo PCI (15,35±0,93 MJ/kg) e revela um teor de cloro de 0,67±0,02 % e um teor de mercúrio de 8,10±0,14 mg Hg/kg, valores considerados altos por comparação com outros CDR urbanos. Segundo o sistema de classificação de CDR, baseado na norma portuguesa NP 4486:2008, a amostra estudada apresenta uma baixa qualidade como CDR.<br>This work is committed to analyse the potential of refuse derived fuel (RDF) as alternative fuel for industrial purpose and the validation of the technical methods to its characterisation applied to RDF from municipal solid wastes (MSW). The distribution size, humidity, heat value, ash content and mass fraction of chlorate and mercury as thermal behaviour under pyrolysis is measured with the purpose of future application of this RDF in cement plants. The characteristics, quality and safety of RDF from MSW are important parameters contributing to use it as an alternative fuel in cement plants, reducing fuel costs and simultaneously reduction percentage of MSW to landfill sites. The RDF studied presents a humidity content of 26.49±1,63 % and an ash content of 16.94 %. It’s a heterogeneous mixture of materials with particle size lower than 12.5 mm diameter (90 % of the sample). Thus mill processing is required is order to favour its use as fuel using different technologies for energetic valorisation. An ideal RDF should presents a high heat value and low values of chlorate and mercury content. The results obtained for this sample of RDF show a lower heating value of 15.35±0,93 MJ/kg and a chlorate content of 0.67±0,02 % and a mercury content of 8.10±0,14 mg Hg/kg, which are higher values when compared with data of RDF from MSW available in the literature. According the system applied to classify RDF based in Portuguese standard NP 4486:2008 the RDF sample studied presents low quality.

The data volume of Partial Differential Equation (PDE) based ultra-large-scale scientific simulations is increasing at a higher rate than that of the system’s processing power. To process the increased amount of simulation data within a reasonable amount of time, the evolution of computation is expected to reach the exascale level. One of several key challenges to overcome in these exascale systems is to handle the high rate of component failure arising due to having millions of cores working together with high power consumption and clock frequencies. Studies show that even the highly tuned widely used checkpointing technique is unable to handle the failures efficiently in exascale systems. The Sparse Grid Combination Technique (SGCT) is proved to be a cost-effective method for computing high-dimensional PDE based simulations with only small loss of accuracy, which can be easily modified to provide an Algorithm-Based Fault Tolerance (ABFT) for these applications. Additionally, the recently introduced User Level Failure Mitigation (ULFM) MPI library provides the ability to detect and identify application process failures, and reconstruct the failed processes. However, there is a gap of the research how these could be integrated together to develop fault-tolerant applications, and the range of issues that may arise in the process are yet to be revealed. My thesis is that with suitable infrastructural support an integration of ULFM MPI and a modified form of the SGCT can be used to create high performance robust PDE based applications. The key contributions of my thesis are: (1) An evaluation of the effectiveness of applying the modified version of the SGCT on three existing and complex applications (including a general advection solver) to make them highly fault-tolerant. (2) An evaluation of the capabilities of ULFM MPI to recover from a single or multiple real process/node failures for a range of complex applications computed with the modified form of the SGCT. (3) A detailed experimental evaluation of the fault-tolerant work including the time and space requirements, and parallelization on the non-SGCT dimensions. (4) An analysis of the result errors with respect to the number of failures. (5) An analysis of the ABFT and recovery overheads. (6) An in-depth comparison of the fault-tolerant SGCT based ABFT with traditional checkpointing on a non-fault-tolerant SGCT based application. (7) A detailed evaluation of the infrastructural support in terms of load balancing, pure- and hybrid-MPI, process layouts, processor affinity, and so on.