CEN404: Environmental Engineering and Management Practice

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COURSE MODULE (CEN404): Environmental Engineering and Management Practice
ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Management Scenarios for Suzhou City and Air Pollutant Dispersion and Risk Assessment

Lecturer responsible: Dr. Xiaonan Tang

Date set: Monday 3 March 2025 (Week 3)

Required date of submission: Sunday 13 April 2025 (Week 8)

Penalty scheme for late submission: Standard Faculty scheme

Aims: This coursework aims to strengthen students’ further understanding of the approach of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by performing the environmental assessment of solid waste management scenarios with respect to energy and greenhouse gas balances. This coursework also aims to strengthen students’ further understanding of stochastic approaches for evaluating air pollutant risks by analyzing the risk assessment of air pollutant contamination issues with respect to the numerical modeling of air pollutant dispersion.

Details: See the following statements for coursework details.

Submission (to LMO): A standard report in PDF format with associated calculation excel sheets.

At the end of this assignment, a student should be able to (Learning Outcomes: C, D):

• Be able to apply common analytical techniques used in air quality monitoring and appraise the impact and implications of air pollution from industrial processes.
• Be able to firmly understand the processes associated with solid waste management and appraise the impacts related to landfilling and incineration
Notes:
For calculation questions:

The values of X and Y should be obtained from your own student ID number. For example, ifthe last two digits of your own student ID number end with 12, then take X as 1 and Y as 2. Thus, 1+X/2 =1.5.

Recommended Reading


  • Bayatian,M., Azari,M. R., Ashrafi, K., Jafari,M. J., & Mehrabi,Y. (2021). CFD simulation for dispersion of benzene at a petroleum refinery in diverse atmospheric conditions. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(25), 32973-32984.
  • Coban, A., Ertis,I.F. and Cavdaroglu,N.A. (2018) Municipal Solid Waste Management via Multi-criteria Decision Making Methods: A Case Study in Istanbul, Turkey. Journal of Cleaner Production. 180:159-167.
  • Fruergaard, T. (2010) Environmental Sustainable Utilization ofWaste Resources for Energy Production. Technical University of Denmark-PhD Thesis, Kongens Lyngby.
  • Fuss, M., Barros, R.T.V. & Poganietz, W.R. (2018) Designing a Framework for Municipal Solid Waste Management towards Sustainability in Emerging-economy Countries – An Application to a Case Study in Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Journal of Cleaner Production. 178:655-664.
  • Hansen, E. (2003) State of LCA in Denmark 2003. Danish Ministry of the Environment. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmentalproject, 1207.
  •  Huertas, J. I., Martinez, D. S., & Prato, D. F. (2021). Numerical approximation to the effects of the atmospheric stability conditions on the dispersion of pollutants over flat areas. Scientific reports, 11(1), 1-15.
  • Juodis, L., Filistovič, V., Maceika, E., & Remeikis, V. (2016). Analytical dispersion model for the chain of primary and secondary air pollutants released from point source. Atmospheric Environment, 128, 216-226.
  • Leelőssy, Á., Molnár, F., Izsák, F., Havasi, Á., Lagzi,I., & Mészáros, R. (2014). Dispersion modeling of air pollutants in the atmosphere: a review. Open Geosciences, 6(3), 257-278.
  • Mondal, S., Singh, G., & Jain, M. K. (2020). Spatio-temporal variation of air pollutants around the coal mining areas of Jharia Coalfield, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 192(6), 1-17.
  • Stranddorf,H.K., Hoffmann,L. & Schmidt,A. (2005) Impact Categories, Normalization and Weighting in LCA. Danish Ministry ofthe Environment. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental news, 78.
  • Taşkın, A., & Demir, N. (2020). Life cycle environmental and energy impact assessment of sustainable urban municipal solid waste collection and transportation strategies. Sustainable Cities and Society, 61, 102339.
  • Xia, Q., Niu, J., & Liu, X. (2014). Dispersion of air pollutants around buildings: A review of past studies and their methodologies. Indoor and Built Environment, 23(2), 201-224.
  • Zhang, J., Qin,Q., Li, G., & Tseng, C. H. (2021). Sustainable municipal waste management strategies through life cycle assessment method: A review. Journal of Environmental Management, 287, 112238.



Suzhou City is currently running out of landfill space for disposal ofmunicipal waste. Over the past few years,the city has been in the process of implementing waste incineration as an alternative solution. Using the methodology ofLife Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the data in Tables 1 and 2 below, please write a detailed report about the following requirements:

1. Select a proper functional unit that will be applicable to the scenarios.

• An overview of the composition and characteristics of the waste received for landfilling in Suzhou City is given in Table 1 entitled “Waste Composition in Suzhou City 2024”, after recyclable materials have been removed via informal recycling”.

Table 1. Waste Composition in Suzhou City 2024

Material
Mass (kg)
Dry matter (dm)
Volatile solids (VS)
Biogenic carbon
Methane potential
Upper fuel value
% oftotal mass
% of material mass
% of dm
% oftotal C in material
Nm3/ton VS
GJ/tondm
Food waste
34
38
 71
 96
 500
 23
Paper and cardboard
21
74
 83
 94
 65
 21
Yard waste
23
56
 86
 95
 210
 15
Leather, rubber, etc.
5
78
 90
 92
 0
 20
Glass
7
97
 5
 -
 0
 0
Metal
3
94
 4
 -
 0
 0
Plastic
4
83
 89
 34
 0
 40
Wood
3
71
 93
 96
 0
 18



2. Draw a flowchart for the waste through all unit processes in the scenarios and mark all relevant flows of waste mass, energy and greenhouse gases in and out of each unit process on the flow charts.
• Consider the following three alternative scenarios for waste treatment with the flows of energy and greenhouse gases.


Scenario 1: Landfilling of all wastes.

Non fossil carbon sequestration in landfill
Methane emission from landfill
Waste transport
Greenhouse gas emissions/savings associated with fuel provision
Scenario 2: Incineration of all wastes and landfilling of the ashes.
Electricity production from incineration
Electricity consumption by incineration plant
Emission of fossil CO2 from incineration plant
Waste transport
Ash transport
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with fuel provision
Greenhouse gas emissions/savings associated with energy production/consumption
Scenario 3:Anaerobic digestion of the food andyard wastefollowed by dewatering and composting of the digested material with application to land, and incineration of all remaining waste with landfilling of the ashes.
Electricity production from incineration
Electricity consumption by incineration plant
Emission of fossil CO2 from incineration plant
Ash transport
Electricity production from biogas (via gas engine-generator)
Electricity consumption by biogas plant
Methane loss from biogas plant
Methane loss from gas engine
Electricity consumption for digestate dewatering
Fuel consumption for composting
Greenhouse gas emissions from composting process (N2O and CH4 )
Biogenic carbon sequestration in the soil as a result of compost application
Waste transport
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with fuel provision
Greenhouse gas emissions/savings associated with energy production/consumption
  • Estimate the energy that can be produced from the waste, assuming that electricity is only useful energy while heat cannot be utilized.
  • Estimate the greenhouse gas balances associated with the waste treatment without considering greenhouse gas emissions associated with construction and maintenance ofthe treatment facilities.
  • Consider emissions and savings of greenhouse gases connected directly with the treatment and disposal ofthe waste.
  • Consider CO2, CH4, andN2O for important greenhouse gases.
3. Calculate the values for the flows of waste mass and energy in and out of each unit process in all three scenarios, and the values for greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy flows. Please provide a table with the calculated values for each scenario.
  • Table 2 provides additional data for calculating energy and greenhouse gas balances for the different unit processes in the scenarios.
4. Calculate the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions and savings for each scenario in CO2 -eq and identify what the most important unit process is in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and savings and explain why you have selected one of unit processes as the most important unit process in each scenario.
5. Summarize the comparison resultsbetween three differentscenarios and recommend the best scenario with specific reasons.

6. Provide the limitations of your methodology and find any alternative solutions, which can reflect necessary unit processes with flows of waste mass, energy and greenhouse gases.

Table 2. Unit Process Data and Their Characteristics

Process/parameter
 Value
 Unit
Landfilling
Methane escaping from landfill
 67
 % ofproduction
Methane production in landfill
 56
 % of potential
Fraction ofbiogenic carbon sequestered
21
 % of carbon deposited
Incineration with energy production
Electricity production
 59
 % oflower fuel value
Electricity consumption for plant operation
 24
 % oftotal production
Anaerobic digestion/energy utilization

CH4 loss from biogas tank
 5
 % ofCH4 production
Power for plant operation
 7
 % of electricity production
CH4 loss from engine
 8
 % ofinput CH4
Electricity production
 59
% ofCH
4
energy content
Digestate dewatering
 0.006
 GJ/ton input mass
Electricity consumption

Dry matter content in dewatered
material

37
 % oftotal output mass
Composting
CH
4
emission

8
 % ofinitial C
Fuel use
 5.7
 MJ/ton input mass
Electricity use
 2.6
 kg/ton input mass
C loss
 53
 % ofinput C
Mass loss
 57
 % of input mass
Land application of compost

Biogenic carbon sequestration
 5
 % of carbon in compost
Transport

Fuel consumption per mass
transported

0.0019
 GJ/ton km
Transport distances
 24
 km
Fuel provision
 0.8
ton CO
2
/ton fuel

Conversion factors

Coal energy content
 31
 MJ/kg coal
Diesel oil energy content
 48
MJ/kg diesel
CH
4

energy content
 56
 MJ/kg CH4
CO
2
emission from coal
combustion

3.6
kg CO
2
/kg coal

CO
2
emission from diesel
combustion

3.4
kg CO
2
/kg diesel

CH
4
GWP (Global Warming
Potential)

25
kg CO
2
-eq/kg CH
4

CH
4
density

0.78
 kg/Nm3

7. Build a numerical model for solving your dispersion equation.
• Here, the model should cover distance downwind starting from 100 m and ending at 1000 m and your interval steps in space should be 100 m. Analyze your answer.
8. Assess potential risks of the GHGs concentration in the air, exceeding the maximum acceptable concentration rate. Please summarize the comparison results, differently obtained from the selected maximum acceptable concentration rate.
• Here, the maximum acceptable concentration rates of 50 µg/m3, 150 µg/m3, and 300 µg/m3 are considered for evaluating potential risks from your numerical model.
9. Provide the limitations of your methodology and find any alternative solutions, which can improve the usefulness of your outcomes. In addition, without any calculations, briefly comment in a short paragraph on what will the anticipated results for N2O (another type of GHG) for Scenarios A and B, and the reasons for your answer.
10. Suggest various ways of reducing the GHGs risks and give the reasons for your suggestions.
Note:
It is recommended that the total length ofthe whole report should be in a range of 20-35 pages including the references in APA style and that Times New Roman (12pt) or Calibri (11pt) with 1.15 or 1.5 line spacing may be adopted for the report. The font size ofsection title should be no larger than 13pt.
Scenario A:
Emission Q = 0.6 mol/s
The average wind speed (m/s) to be determined by generating random numbers in
Excel, and assume Normal distribution from 50 different numbers with mean of 5 and
standard deviation of 0.5.
The effective stack height (H) is (20+X/2) m, and assume ground level concentration.
The pollutant is measured at y = 0 m, 20 m, 50 m, 80 m, and 100 m,respectively.
Please investigate all cases of y.
Scenario B:
Emission Q = (1+Y/2) mol/s
The average wind speed (m/s) to be determined by generating random numbers in
Excel, and assume Normal distribution from 50 different numbers with mean of 8 and
standard deviation of 0.5.
The pollutant is measured at centreline (y = 0) and assume ground level concentration.
The effective stack height (H) is 0 m, 20 m, 50 m, 80 m, and 100 m,
respectively. Please investigate all cases of H.
Meanwhile, the dispersion of two greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely CO
2
and CH
4
need to be
understood on a day which has strong sunshine. By applying an appropriate numerical model with
stochastic approaches and basic information stated below, please write a detailed report about the
following:
7

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