Laxmi Pande et al.

/ (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Vol No. 5, Issue No. 2, 277 - 281

Conversion of Biodegradable Waste to Fertilizer and

Energy
Laxmi Pande Dr.P.B.Nagarnaik
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering
Nagpur, India Nagpur, India
laxmi.p7@gmail.com pnagarnaik@rediffmail.com

Abstract—Municipal solid waste management and Population Waste

treatment is a major problem faced by municipal bodies City (>20 Lac) Generation
all over the world especially India. Due to increasing 2004 (TPD)
population and changing life style, the volume of the waste
increases exponentially. In India, the waste is disposed by Pune 25,38,473 1175
landfilling, composting, etc. However, these methods have

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certain disadvantages. In addition to this, Energy Crisis is Mumbai 1,63,70,000 5320
another crucial problem faced by India. This paper
Delhi 1,03,06,452 5922
presents a novel technique for treatment of biodegradable
waste (which forms a major part of MSW). It involves Kolkata 45,72,876 2653
processing of Biodegradable Waste by thermal process in
presence of catalyst at high temperature to give liquid Chennai 43,43,645 3036
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fertilizer and coke as product. This technology has a
definite goal of exploiting the commercial aspects of two
universal problems i.e. problem of managing the
biodegradable waste in the municipal solid waste and
Banglore
Hyderabad
43,01,326
38,43,585
1669
2187
overcoming the fuel shortage indigenously. Ahmedabad 35,20,085 1302
Keyword-Biodegradable waste, Municipal Solid Waste Kanpur 25,51,337 1100
(MSW), Energy Scenario, Thermal process
Nagpur 20,52,066 504
I. INTRODUCTION Source: CPCB,2004
MSW generation in India is increasing due to increasing
A
urbanization, increasing population and changing lifestyle.
The MSW generation in India is about 90 million tonnes per Table 2: Composition of municipal solid waste in India[1]
year. The per capita increase in MSW generation is projected Description Percent by weight
at a rate of 1-1.33 % annually ( Seema U et. al [1])[2]. With Vegetable, 40.15
increasing population of 3-3.5% per annum, the yearly waste leaves
generation is expected to increase by 5 %. The generation Grass 3.8
rates in different cities of India are shown in Table 1. Paper 0.81
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Plastic 0.62
For this rise in generation, it is very important to know the
Glass/ceramics 0.44
composition and accordingly the waste can be treated and
disposed without harming the environment and hence our eco- Ash 41.81
system. The composition of MSW generated in India varies Metal 0.64
considerably from point to point. The typical composition is
shown in Table 2. The major fraction of MSW is
biodegradable matter (41%).

The disposal methods adopted in India are mainly land

dumping, composting, thermal process, biological process.
However the most practiced is dumping. The status of
municipal solid waste treatment and disposal in some of the
metro cities is shown in Table 3.

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 Laxmi Pande et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 5, Issue No. 2, 277 - 281

Tabke 3: Status of municipal solid waste treatment and contains high N-P-K (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) value.
disposal in metro cities[4] Also as it is organic waste, the energy that can be extracted
Metro City Solid waste Treatment from it is substantial. The energy potential of Biodegradable
collection (tonnes/day) waste can be calculated as shown below:
(tonned/day)
 Total conversion of waste in energy : W tonnes
Bangalore 2000 200 (biodegradable waste) * Z% ( energy in for m of fuel)
Bombay 55,355 500  Net Calorific Value of fuel : NCV k-cal/kg.
Calcutta 3692 Nil  Energy recovery potential (kWh) = NCV x W x
Delhi 4000 300 1000/860 = 1.16 x NCV x W x Z
Hyderabad 1566 100  Power generation potential (kW) = 1.16 x NCV x W/
Pune 700 50 24 = 0.048 x NCV x W x Z
 Conversion Efficiency = 25%
Chennai 3124 Nil
 Net power generation potential (kW) = 0.012 x NCV
xWxZ
From the above formula, we can estimate the quantity of
Metro Mode of disposal
energy that is wasted if this energy is not recovered.
City (%)
Dumping Composting Others Energy Scenario
Bangalore 90 10 -

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India is a developing country. Energy is a very important
Bombay 91 9 - input for the economic growth of the country. The per capita
Calcutta 100 - - consumption of energy is very low as compared to other
Delhi 93 7 - developed nation. Due to continous growing economy, this
Hyderabad 94 6 - consumption has to increase in coming years. The present per
Pune 93 2 7 capita consumption of energy is 530 kg of oil
Chennai 100 - -
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It can be seen that most of the waste is disposed by land
dumping. For the business as usual scenario the land
equivalent(kgoe).[6] J. Parikh and K. Parikh summarize the
energy scenario in India. The details of primary energy supply
is given in Table 4.

requirement for the disposal would increase from 195.4 sq.km Table 4 Primary Energy Supply in India[7]
in 1997 to 590.1 sq.km in 2021 (S.Gupta et al [5]). This area is Energy Units Domesti Net Energy %
very huge. Land dumping includes open dumping and Source c Qty. imports *
landfilling. Open dumping is the cheapest and oldest mode of Coal Mt 457 29 8343 41.9
MSW disposal. The waste is untreated, uncovered and not Lignite Mt 34 0 408 2.0
segregated. It attracts flies and rodents and generates foul Crude Oil Mt 34.1 121.7
smell. Landfilling leads to groundwater contamination due to Petroleum Mt 34.1 121.7 6523 32.7
percolation of leachate, air pollution due to various green products
A
house gases that are evolved into the atmosphere adding to the Natural Bcm 32.4 0 1221 6.1
Global Warming and nuisance to environment. Another gas
method by which MSW is disposed is incineration, but it is LNG Mt 0 8.3 427 2.1
not fully exploited because of the low calorific value of MSW Hydro TWh 120.9 5.3 454 2.3
and the ash obtained contains harmful toxins. Composting can energy
be used for small scale generation but large amount of waste Nuclear TWh 17 0 186 0.9
cannot be treated by this method due to the restrictions of the Energy
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available area. Moreover this process is time consuming. Others 11.9

Atleast a month is required for the formation of good compost.
Citing these reasons, it is very essential to develop a
technology which can treat large amount of waste in short
duration. Moreover, the technology should be eco-friendly and
should not add to the pollution that may have caused if the
waste was untreated.
It can be seen from the composition, the major part of MSW
consist of biodegradable waste. The biodegradable waste has
its origin from plant and animal sources. Food waste,
vegetable waste, paper waste, biodegradable plastic waste
alongwith slaughterhouse waste, human waste, animal waste
comes under biodegradable waste. This biodegradable waste
Total 19924 100.0
Energy
Supply
It can be seen from Table 4 that coal contributes to about 42%
of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES). About 78% of coal
contributes to the electricity production in India. The Planning
Commission of India in its report has projected India’s
electricity requirement to 3597 GWhr in 2030 as against 761
GWhr in 2006 at GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate
of 8% [8]. For this energy requirement, domestic production
and imports for 8% GDP growth rate in 2030 is projected as
shown in Table 5.

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 Laxmi Pande et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 5, Issue No. 2, 277 - 281

Table 5: TPCES: Total primary commercial energy

supply[8]
Fuel Commercial Assumed Imports Import
energy domestic 2030 2030
requirement production Percent
in 2030 capacity
2030
Oil(Mt) 453 35 418 93
Natural 93 100
Gas (Mtoe)
Coal(Mtoe) 923 560 363 39
Others 82 - 0 0
(Mtoe) Fig.1 Process Flowsheet
TPCES 1553 - 781 50
4. Receiver: The condensed gas in the form of liquid
It can be seen from Table 5 that by 2030 India will depend on fertilizer is collected in the receiver. The provision is
50% imports for energy. 39% of the coal requirements will made for collecting the uncondensed gases in to gas
have to be satisfied by importing good quality Coal. collector. The arrangement to measure the volume and
Moreover, the quality of coal should also be improved. The rate of flow of liquid continuously or intermittently at

Planning Commission in its report has stated the policy for
production of improved quality of coal having low ash content.
To overcome the above mentioned problems of MSW
treatment and energy crisis, a novel technique was developed
for treatment of Biodegradable waste by thermal process. This
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process is completely eco-friendly. There is total conversion
of Biodegradable waste into value added products.
II THERMAL PROCESS
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any point of time is made in this section.
5. Control Panel: The complete process is controlled from
the control panel. Optionally the process can also be
controlled from a computer.
Output Yield Data
The major process parameters and product yields are
given in Table below. The evolved vapors are
condensed to collect gas and liquid products.

This process involves catalytic conversion of Biodegradable Table 6 Process parameters

Waste into liquid fertilizer and coke at high temperature at Feed Biodegradable waste
atmospheric pressure in absence of any atmospheric oxygen. (Vegetable, Restaurant)
The process was carried out at our lab at Nagpur, India. The Contaminants 5% on feed (Plastic, rubber,
process flow sheet is shown in fig.1 tyre)
Catalyst 1 % on feed
A
Catalyst used is a patented catalyst. The brief description is as Temperature
follows:
Pressure Atmospheric
1. Churner: The Biodegradable waste is first churned so
as to attain uniform viscosity in a churner. Batch cycle 3-4 hrs
2. Reactor: It is then fed to the reactor which is an time
insulated stainless steel cylindrical reactor heated by
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electrical heating coils to achieve a maximum heating

temperature of 500oC The necessary provision is made Table 7. Product yield
on the reactor for mounting the gadgets for measuring
pressure, temperature and collection of liquid product The product yields Quantity (wt %)
from the reactor.
3. Condenser: The gaseous output from the reactor is Gas 10-15
passed through a double walled condenser with inlets
and outlets for cooling water. The gaseous product at a Liquid 70-80
temperature of around 350oC are condensed to around Coke 7-15
30-35oC.

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Vol No. 5, Issue No. 2, 277 - 281

The Municipal Solid Waste cannot be segregated into pure Properties

biodegradable form. It is bound to have some contaminants in
the form of plastics, rubber, etc. These contaminants are added Molecular C12H8Cl6
as it is present in the feed. The feed can be varied with its formula
composition like pure vegetable waste, pure restaurant waste,
or a mixed feed. Molar mass 364.91 g mol−1

III ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT Melting point 104 °C

Liquid Product: The Analysis of the output liquid product is Vapor pressure 7.5 × 10−5 mmHg @
shown in Table 8. 20oC
Solubility in 0.027 mg/L
Table 8. Analysis of liquid product water
Sample Liquid Table 9: Properties of Aldrin[9]
N% 0.4-0.5%
P% Not Detected Aldrin is mostly used as pesticide.
K(mg/L) 0.5-2
Alpha Endosulphan:
S% 0.001-0.005

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Cl% 0.1-0.6

As the liquid is in water base, the N-P-K values are that of a

diluted sample of fertilizer in water. As the dilution increases,
the value decreases further. The presence of sulphur and
chlorine in output liquid suggests the possibility of having

liquid is shown in Table 9.

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pesticidal properties as well. The organochloro analysis of the

Table 9: Organochloro analysis of liquid product

Fig.3 Structure of Alpha Endosulphan[10]
Chlorinated Measurement Result
pesticides Unit Table 10: Properties of Alpha Endosulfan[10]
Aldrin ppb 1.3-6
an equimolar mixture of
Alpha ppb 5-12 2 asymmetric, twisted-
Endosulphan chair conformers of
Deildrin ppb 10-25 (5aR,6S,9R,9aS)-
IUPAC: 6,7,8,9,10,10-
A
The liquid product is found to have both fertilizer and hexachloro-1,5,5a,6,9,9a-
pesticidal properties. The properties of the above mentioned hexahydro-6,9-methano-
pesticides are shown below: 2,4,3-benzodioxathiepine
3-oxide
Aldrin : (3α,5aβ,6α,9α,9aβ)-
6,7,8,9,10,10-
hexachloro-1,5,5a,6,9,9a-
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CAS:
hexahydro-6,9-methano-
2,4,3-benzodioxathiepin
3-oxide
REG. NO.: 959-98-8
FORMULA: C9H6Cl6O3S
insecticides (cyclodiene
ACTIVITY:
insecticides)
PHYSICAL
Brown Crystals
Fig.2 Structure of Aldrin[9] STATE
SOLUBILITY
0.32 mg/L
IN WATER

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Vol No. 5, Issue No. 2, 277 - 281

Conclusion :
The process utilizes all the waste and converts it into a useful
Deildrin: liquid product having fertilizer, pesticidal, insecticidal
properties along with coke as a solid product. If 1000 tonnes
of Biodegradable waste is treated by this process, about 750
tonnes of Liquid Fertilizer and 150 tonnes of coke having
energy potential of 12 MW can be obtained. Remaining is
gaseous product which can further be used as fertilizer after
passing through water.

Fig. 4 Structure of Deildrin[11] REFERENCES

[1] Seema U,Anju S.Energy recovery in solid waste management through

CDM in India and other countries.Journal of Resources, Conservation
Table 11: Properties of Deildrin[11] and Recycling 54(2010)630-640. Elsevier.
[2] Singhal S, Pandey P. TERI 2001. Solid waste management in
Properties India:status and future directions. TERI Information Monitor on
Environmental Science 2001;6(1):1-4
Molecular formula C12H 8Cl6O [3] CPCB report 2004
[4] Status of solid waste generation, collection, treatment and disposal in

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Molar mass 380.91 g mol−1 Indian cities, www.indiastat.com
[5] S. Gupta et al.Solid waste management in India: options and
opportunities. Journal of Resources, conservation and recycling
Density 1.75 g/cm³ 24(1998) 137-154. Elsevier
[6] International Energy Agency (IEA), Key Energy Statistics 2007,
Melting point 176-177 °C http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2007/Key_Stats_2007.pdf
[7] J.Parikh,K.Parikh.India's energy needs and low carbon options, Energy
Boiling point 385 °C
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Solid Product / Coke: The proximate analysis of Coke is
shown in Table 12
(2011) 1-9. Elsevier
[8] Integrated

ntengy.pdf.
Energy Policy,

[9] Aldrin properties, wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrin

Planning
Commision,2006,http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_i

[10] IUPAC Global availability of information on agrochemical

http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/aeru/iupac/1661.htm
Table 12. Proximate analysis of Coke
[11] Deildrin, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieldrin
[12] Calculation of calorific value,
Sample Coke http://www.scribd.com/doc/28046767/Calorific-Values-and-Proximate-
Moisture % 2-4.5 Analysis-Of
Ash % 19-25
Volatile 4-12
A
Matter %
Fixed 65-75
Carbon%

From the above mentioned values the average calorific value

of coke was found to be 6230 kcal/kg[12]. Energy potential of
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biodegradable waste for a city of 1000 TPD production would

be = 0.012 x NCV x W x Z= 0.012 x 6230 x 1000 x .15 =
11.214 MW(Mega Watt) per day. This accounts to very large
amount of energy. If the waste is left untreated lots and lots of
energy is lost. This technology helps in recovering this energy
from waste.

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