Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Process

What is RDF?

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is classified as an innovation of waste-to-energy technology created by shredding and drying out municipal solid waste material. The raw material mostly used for conversion is the combustible fraction of waste which usually consists of plastics and biodegradable matter. Refuse-derived fuel facilities are usually located near landfills and dumpsites for efficiency of access and acquisition of waste materials and less transportation cost.

Refuse Derived Fuel production starts by collection and transportation of raw materials, and then comes the separation and sorting of municipal solid waste. In this process, the noncombustible and recyclable materials are removed since it does not have the potential to be converted to energy. The noncombustible can still be useful after taking treatment to improve their value. It can be recycled and reserved for use in other purposes.

Compression is a good way to reduce the amount of space need for the storage and transportation of the noncombustible. The combustible components on the other hand are prepared to undergo the conversion process. In the conversion process, the RDF  is extracted and removed from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The process is performed by using any of the three methods: autoclaves, applying extreme mechanical heat treatment, or using mechanical biological treatment. Pressurized steam treatment can also be used to remove the existence of heavy metals and other hazardous elements from the raw material.

The conversion process is divided into five stages. The process may be divided into five stages: Preliminary Liberation, size screening, magnetic separation, coarse shredding where shredding and compression comes to make it easier to dissolve the waste to energy, and refining separation. Electricity Generation is the primary use of Refuse Derived Fuel. It helps resolve the underlying concerns due to consumption of energy means. Refuse derived fuel process is also classified as a type of green energy as the production of Refuse Derived Fuel use waste which also lessens and eliminates raw materials in exchange for a clean energy source. It is considered as one of the great innovation of our present time because it resolves both waste management and energy dilemmas. This process lessens the emission of gas in the air, and it lessens the waste in the dumpsites and landfills worldwide. The use of this technology is expected to pave the way for the salvation of our mother earth and the insurance of a stable and sustainable future for the upcoming generations.