Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology Lahore

MSc Mechanical Engineering Thesis Proposal

Title of Research: Energy and Life cycle assessment of an innovative system based on pyrolysis
of Gujranwala Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Name of Student: Mohsin Arbab

Registration No: 2020-MS-RES-506
Date of Registration: 02-09-2020
Full Time: Yes
Supervisor: Dr. Salman Abbasi
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Haider Ali
Department: Mechanical Engineering Department

1. Problem Statement

Gujranwala is the 7th largest city of Pakistan. The population of metropolitan Gujranwala is 2.664502
million [1] and it is increasing at a rate of 2.75% annually, hence the energy demand of people is also
increasing. Gujranwala being the 7th largest city of Pakistan is generating 1140 tonnes of domestic
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) [1] daily. The waste generation per capita per day comes out to be 0.428
kg [1]. By 2030, it would increase to 0.467 kg per capita per day [1]. Out of 1140 tonnes, 1000 tonnes [1] are
collected and dumped into landfill daily,65 tonnes [1] of MSW is recovered through recycling by
scavengers, before it reaches the landfill and some portion of it is burnt and dumped into illegal sites.
Hence with the increasing population and waste generation, the useable landfill space is being depleted
with time. Also open dumping is raising serious environmental concerns and issues. It is affecting the
climate very badly by carbon emissions and filthy leachates also mixes with underground clean drinking
water and hence it is disturbing the local ecological systems. Pakistan imports fossil fuels from other
countries to produce electricity requiring foreign currency exchange. Pakistan exports are currently
insufficient to cover the cost of imports. One alternative source of electricity production is solid waste
This research discusses the conversion of MSW from Gujranwala into energy through carefully
controlled pyrolysis. [1]
2. Objectives

The objectives of the research include:

1) Review state of art of MSW conversion by pyrolysis and energy production.
2) To study the feasibility of Pyrolysis for Gujranwala MSW.
3) Evaluating the feasibility of replacement of oil with bio-fuels produced through pyrolysis.
4) Life cycle assessment for pyrolysis of Gujranwala municipal solid waste (MSW).

3. Literature Survey

In Pakistan, the high cost of energy utility services, including the need for alternative supplies and battery
backup imposes a significant economic burden on people. Pakistan mainly relies on fossil fuels to
produce energy which are depleting and causing environmental deterioration and CO2 emissions
contributing to climate warming. Solid waste has potential to produce electricity through
biomethanogensis –the production of methane gas from the action of bacterial decomposition.
The world generates 2.01 billion tonnes [2] of municipal solid waste annually with at least 33 percent of
that- extremely conservatively-not managed in an environmentally safe manner. Worldwide waste
generated per capita per day is 0.74 kilograms [2]. When looking forward, global waste is expected to
grow to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050. [2] The share of waste generation by region is shown by pie-chart.

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Share of Waste Generation By Region

6%

26% 9%

11%

17%
14%

Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America and the Carribean
North America South Asia Europe and Central Asia
[2]
Figure 1

Pakistan generates 48.5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year at an increasing rate of 2 percent
annually [4]. The waste generation per day in Pakistan is 87,000 tonnes per day. [4] The waste management
in Pakistan is very poor. There are no proper scientifically designed landfills in Pakistan. Municipal
waste is either dumped at open place or burnt. About 60-70 percent of solid waste is collected in Pakistan
[4]
. In Pakistan, Municipal solid waste is not processed. Most part of solid waste is recovered through
recycling. Globally most waste is currently dumped or disposed in some form of a landfill,8 percent of
which is disposed in sanitary landfill with landfill gas collection system. Open dumping accounts for
about 31% of waste,19% is recovered through recycling and composting and 11% is incinerated. [2]
Below Pie-Chart shows that how the waste is globally treated and disposed.

Waste Treatment and Disposal

5.50%
11.00%

25% 4%

25%
33%

7.70%

Composting Incineration
Controlled Landfill Landfill (unspecified)
Sanitary Landfill (with landfill gas collection) Open Dump
Others

What a waste 2[2] 2.0[2]

Figurereport

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Pyrolysis: It is the thermal degradation of waste into energy in the absence of oxygen.

Slow pyrolysis: It is thermal degradation of waste into energy in the absence of oxygen at slow heating
rate which is usually 100 K/min. Reaction temperature is about 300 C.

Fast pyrolysis: It is the process in which waste is heated rapidly in the absence of oxygen. Reaction
temperature is about 500 C. In fast pyrolysis, heating rate is usually 1000 K/min.

4. Methodology
For this dissertation, I will base discussion on an existing process design illustrated below

Figure 3[5]

Figure 4

➢ A pyrolysis reactor will be designed and fabricated for the experimentation.

➢ The mixture of all MSW will be shredded into small pieces, pretreated and will be processed in
pyrolysis reactor. [16]
➢ The MSW will be segregated, shredded and experimentation for each type of MSW will be
performed.
➢ Experimentation will be both for batch production.
➢ There will be energy potential assessment by techno commercial analysis of MSW referring the
biomass pyrolysis.

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering
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➢ Life cycle assessment for the pyrolysis of municipal solid waste of Gujranwala city will be done. [15].
[16], [17]

➢ The thermal analysis and combustion behavior of waste samples will be investigated by proximate
analysis, ultimate analysis and thermo gravimetric analysis.
➢ In addition, energy contents of samples will be determined by bomb calorimeter. The gas produced
by pyrolysis will be analyzed for methane gas using Varian CP-3800 Gas chromatography (GC).
➢ Cost Analysis will be done.
Thermo-gravimetric Analysis: This analysis is used to find the thermal stability of any element.
The thermal stability of any element is found by monitoring the change in weight which takes place
when any material is heated at constant temperature.

Proximate Analysis: In this type of analysis, moisture contents, ash weightage, and volatile matter
is determined.

Ultimate Analysis: This type of analysis is used to find carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and Sulphur.
Gas Chromatography: It is used for the separation and analysis of compound.

5. Utilization of Research
The understanding developed by pyrolysis of Gujranwala MSW will help us to find to cope with energy
crisis in Pakistan. Biofuels obtainable through pyrolysis may include methane gas, gasoline, bio-diesel
and tar. Gasoline and bio-diesel obtained through pyrolysis may be a good replacement of fuel used in
transportation sector. Methane obtained by pyrolysis process may be used as substitute for re-gasified
imported liquefied natural gas(RLNG) in Pakistan. It will also help us to find whether pyrolysis can
reduce our landfill requirements. It may help reduce carbon emissions. Hence it will give us guideline
about the environmental impacts of MSW after it is processed. This research will help us to form a clean,
green and sustainable environment where society can enjoy hygienic lives.

6. Research Timetable

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering
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7. References
[1] Japan International Cooperation Agency. City District Government Gujranwala, Local Government
and Community Development Department, Government of Punjab, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Project for Solid Waste Management Master Plan in Gujranwala. Draft final report Volume 2, Supporting
report. (September 2015)
[2] Silpa Kaza, Lisa Yao, Perinaz Bhada-Tata, and Frank Van Woerden. What a waste 2.0.
A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050.
[3] State-of-the-art of fast pyrolysis in IEA bioenergy member countries Dietrich Meier, n, Bert van de
Beld, Anthony V. Bridgwater , Douglas C. Elliott , Anja Oasmaa , Fernando Preto.
[4] Present Status and Potential of Biomass Energy in Pakistan Based on Existing and Future Renewable
Resources 2020.
Wajahat Ullah Khan Tareen, Muhammad Tariq Dilbar, Muhammad Farhan, Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Ali
Waqar Durrani, Kamran Ali Memon, Saad Mekhilef, Mehdi Seyed mahmoudian, Ben Horan,
Muhammad Amir.
[5] Project report on “Design and fabrication of machine to convert plastic into oil and gaseous fuel
production.” VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, Karnataka, Bengalore, India.
[6] Project report on “Pyrolysis of waste plastics into fuel” University of Canterbury by Feng Gao.
[7] Project report on “Design and Development of pyrolysis reactor” Department of Mechanical
Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela by Prof. S. Murugan.
[8] Characterization of Pyrolysis Products and Kinetic Analysis of Waste Jute Stick Biomass Jayanto
Kumar Sarkar and Qingyue Wang * Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University,
255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama 338-8570, Japan; [email protected]
[9] Study of the pyrolysis of municipal solid waste for the production of valuable products I. Velghea,b,
R. Carleer b, J. Ypermanb,∗, S. Schreurs a a NuTeC, Department TIW, XIOS, Agoralaan Gebouw H,
3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium b Research Group of Applied and Analytical Chemistry, CMK, Hasselt
University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
[10] Interactions of three municipal solid waste components during co-pyrolysis Hui Zhou, YanQiu
Long, AiHong Meng, QingHai Li, YanGuo Zhang∗ Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power
Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University,
Qinghai.
[11] Design and thermal characterization of an induction-heated reactor for pyrolysis of solid waste
Oscar Sosa Sabogal a,b,∗, Sylvie Valina, Sébastien Thiery a, Sylvain Salvador b a Univ. Grenoble Alpes,
CEA, LITEN, DTBH, 17 rue des Martyrs, Grenoble Cedex 09, 38000 France b Centre RAPSODEE, IMT
Mines Albi, CNRS UMR 5302, Campus Jarlard, Albi Cedex 09, 81013, France
[12] Energy recovery from municipal solid waste using pyrolysis technology: A review on current status
and developments M.M. Hasan a,c,* , M.G. Rasul a,c , M.M.K. Khan b,c , N. Ashwath c,d , M.I. Jahirul
a,c a School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Queensland, 4701,
Australia b School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Victoria, 3000,
Australia c Clean Energy Academy, Central Queensland University, Queensland, 4701, Australia d
School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Queensland, 4701,
Australia
[13] A systematic review of solar driven waste to fuel pyrolysis technology for the Australian state of
Victoria✩ James Hamilton a, Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian a, Elmira Jamei b, ∗, Ben Horan c, Alex
Stojcevski a Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology,
Australia b College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Australia c School of Engineering,
Deakin University, Australia
[14] Solar assisted pyrolysis system for High-Density polyethylene plastic waste to fuel conversion
Aklilu T. Habtewold*, Demiss A. Ambie, and Wondwossen B. Eremed School of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology * Correspondence: Email:
[email protected]; Tel: +251911036741.
[15] Life cycle assessment of fast pyrolysis of municipal solid waste in North Carolina of USA Hui
Wang, Lijun Wang* , Abolghasem Shahbazi Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Design, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27410, USA

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 Department of Mechanical Engineering
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[16] Comparison of waste to energy technologies of gasification and incineration using life cycle
assessment: Case studies in Finland,France and China
Jun Dong,Yuanjun Tang,Ange NZihou,Yong Chi
[17] Energy and environmental analysis of an innovative system based on municipal solid waste (MSW)
pyrolysis and combined cycle Paolo Baggio a , Marco Baratieri a , Andrea Gasparella b , Giovanni A.
Longo b,* a University of Trento, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Via Mesiano 77,
38050 Trento, Italy b University of Padova, Department of Management and Engineering, Str.lla
S.Nicola 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy Received 30 November 2006; accepted 25 March 2007 Available online
5 April 2007

8. Comments of Supervisor

________________________ ________________________

Signature of Supervisor Signature of Student

Endst. No. Univ:______________ Dated: _____________

The above proposal duly recommended by the Departmental Board of Studies/Committee of

Post-Graduate Studies in its meeting held on _____________ is forwarded to the Director ORIC for
obtaining the approval of the Vice-Chancellor.

________________________ ________________________

Dean of the Faculty Chairman of the Department

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