ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY GENERATION POTENTIAL FROM SOLID WASTES IN ABUJA MUNICIPAL

Abstract

There are improper solid waste management processes in Abuja metropolis which leads to causes of ill health and environmental hazards to inhabitants. The effect of pollution caused by solid waste in open dumps and landfills can be minimised through conversion of the waste to energy.This study focuses on assessing energy generation potential from solid waste generated in Abuja municipal. The study investigated available energy conversion in solid waste using four sample of waste from two sites, Gossa and Kubwa. It involves characterising the physical property, determination of proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, analysis of caloric value of the waste and prediction of total estimated caloric value of solid waste in Abuja. A sample of 0.5 g per waste was used in the analysis except for caloric value where 0.6 kg was adopted per each sample. The proximate analyses revealed thatSW1 (food, wood and paper) has a moisture content of 14.68 %, SW2 (textile, rubber and plastic) has a moisture content of 16.58%, SW3 (metal-aluminium) has a moisture content of0.11%and SW4 (glass and ceramics) has a moisture content of 0.1%respectively. However, volatile matter of SW1, SW2, SW3 and SW4 include49.41 %, 55.37 %; 0.13 % 0.29 % respectively. The ash content of the listed samples is 9.92%, 13.50%; 0.35%, and0.12% respectively and the fixed carbon content (FCC) is 25.99 %, 14.55 %; 99.41 % and 99.49 % respectively. The ultimate analyses revealed thatthe three samples had high mass ratio of carbon content and they include sample A1; A2 and B2 respectively. In these samples carbon had 15.6 %, 22.28 % and 13.22 % respectively that is represent the carbon -fuel in the sample. The predictedcaloric value of the waste is 0.123 MJ/kg.The study concludes that adaptation of solid waste as source of alternative energy will be beneficial for electricity generation and this will lead the nation at large to improve growth and development.