Why do we burn landfill gas and why do we produce electricity?

Biomass electricity generation is considered one of the best examples of implementing the principles of the Circular Economy. By extracting the last drop of resource and energy from municipal waste, we are able to make the most of the potential of the materials and food thrown #into the garbage# by the largest urban concentration in Romania. Producing electricity from landfill gas is considered #good practice# in the world's most environmentally advanced countries.

Why does landfill gas burn?

Landfill gas is a by-product of landfilling municipal waste. Under the action of bacteria and enzymes, biological matter breaks down, producing so-called landfill gas and leachate. Methane gas makes up about 50% of the landfill gas and carbon dioxide 40-43%, the rest being oxygen, nitrogen, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and other volatile compounds. The methane gas in the gas in the reservoir is similar to well gas, so its energy recovery is a matter of economic common sense.

Why should landfill gas be burned?

Capturing landfill gas and neutralising it through combustion is a constant concern for any responsibly managed landfill. Landfill gas is the main source of odour discomfort. Carbon dioxide is also responsible for producing the so-called greenhouse effect, which is responsible for global warming. Last but not least, methane is a highly flammable gas and can, under certain conditions, self-ignite causing fires or explosions.

How is electricity produced from landfill gas?

Circular Economy principles and basic economic common sense forbid you to burn gas for free. If you attach a steam turbine and an electric generator to the gas burner, you can produce eco-friendly electricity. Of course, from a technological point of view things are a bit more complicated, but that's basically the point.

Is waste being burned at the Chiajna landfill?

The answer is CATEGORICALLY NO! NO WASTE IS BURNED at the Chiajna landfill. In fact, smoking is forbidden throughout the entire storage area and working with fire is strictly regulated. The Chiajna power plant is powered exclusively by burning methane gas contained in the landfill gas.

 Is Chiajna technology safe?

The idea of using biomass for energy production is not new. In energy-hungry socialist #Romania# there were dozens of plants using biogas produced by sewage treatment plants in towns and cities as well as from the faeces of large pig farms. In Romania in the 1980s, about 85 000 m3 biogas/day, or 30 million m3/year, was produced annually.

In the meantime, digitisation has enabled almost complete automation of the biomass power generation process and increased plant efficiency. Burning the gas at temperatures of almost 1,000 degrees Celsius in modern plants, such as the one at Chiajna, ensures almost complete neutralisation of landfill gas compounds such as H2S.

How do we produce electricity in Chiajna?

First, we collect the storage gas using 101 extraction wells that suck in the storage gas. The gas is then collected in 5 collection stations and a vacuum-compression station (booster station) so that the pressure in the storage cells is lower than outside, preventing it from being released uncontrolled into the atmosphere.

The power plant is produced in Germany according to the strictest environmental standards. It consists of a biodesulphuriser, a gas moisture reduction plant, a gas heating plant, 3 electrical generators, 3 transformer stations and 2 heat recovery plants. The plant is fully automated.

Is the Chiajna power station efficient?

It is, as far as we see it, an investment in the Circular Economy and in making the most of the energy potential of municipal waste. It is, to the extent that landfill gas is not #ars for free# or disposed of uncontrolled into the air, with impacts on local communities. Compared, however, to other landfill gas-fired power plants, the Iridex plant is a small capacity plant.

Controlled release, Iridex, of landfill gas into the atmosphere?

It would be absurd for someone to deliberately diminish something they use as a raw material to produce something else. What would be the reason for Iridex to release landfill gas containing 50% raw material into the atmosphere to produce electricity?