Estimation of heat generation and consequent temperature rise from nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and fats in municipal solid waste landfills in India.

The heat generation and temperature rise due to the anaerobic degradation of municipal solid waste (MSW) for selected landfills across India have been estimated in this paper. MSW was quantitatively characterized into carbohydrates, proteins, fats using landfill degradation and transport (LDAT) model equations' and the physical composition of MSW. The heat released due to the breakdown of per kg of carbohydrates, proteins, fats were calculated using chemical equations involved in the anaerobic degradation process. The heat released per tonne of MSW degradation and temperature rise for selected cases was calculated. Moisture content and carbohydrates percentage were crucial parameters in estimating the heat generation as Mavallipura landfilled MSW having 43% carbohydrates and moisture content of 17% released maximum heat of 1116.81 × 10 kJ/t of MSW and Pirana landfill MSW having 12.98% carbohydrates and moisture content of 29.03% released minimum heat of 391.82 × 10 kJ/t of MSW. This generated heat may cause several issues, such as landfill fires, temperature rise in the surrounding areas of landfill, air pollution leading to global warming and other environmental issues. The heat generated from the biodegradation process is a renewable energy resource that can be systematically extracted from the waste mass and used for direct heating purpose in nearby facilities or for augmenting industrial processes having suitable technologies like combined heat and power gas engines, geothermal heat extraction system, etc. This study concludes that the total quantity of heat released depends on the quantity of carbohydrates present in waste and not on total organic content.