Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a fuel produced from various types of wastes such as
Municipal Solid wastes (MSW), industrial wastes or commercial wastes.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development provides a definition:
Selected waste and by-products with recoverable calorific value can be used as fuels in a
cement kiln, replacing a portion of conventional fossil fuels, like coal, if they meet strict
specifications. Sometimes they can only be used after pre-processing to provide tailor-made
fuels for the cement process
RDF consists largely of combustible components of such wastes, as non recyclable plastics.
paper cardboard, labels, and other corrugative materials. These fractions are separated by
different processing steps, such as screening, air classification, ballistic separation, separation
of ferrous and non ferrous materials, glass, stones and other foreign materials and shredding
into a uniform grain size, in order to produce a homogenous material which can be used as
substitute for fossil fuels in e.g. cement plants, lime plants, coal fired power plants or as
reduction Agent in Steel Furnaces. RDF can be also further specified into e.g. tyre derived
fuels (TDF) from used tyres, or solid recovered fuels (SRF).
Others describe the properties, such as
Secondary fuels
Substitute fuels
Solid recovered fuels (SRF)
Climafuel as trade name from CEMEX
AF as an abbreviation for alternative fuels
Ultimately most of the designations are only general paraphrases for alternative fuels
which are either waste-derived or biomass-derived.
Yet it is the case, that worldwide there is no exact classification or specification which is used
for such materials. Even legislative authorities have not yet established any exact guidelines
on the type and composition of alternative fuels. The first approaches towards classification
or specification are to be found in the Federal Republic of Germany
(Bundesgtegemeinschaft fr Sekundrbrennstoffe) as well as at European level (European
Recovered Fuel Organisation). These approaches which are initiated primarily by the
producers of alternative fuels, follow a correct approach: Only through a strictly and exactly
defined standardisation in the composition of such materials can both production and
utilisation be uniform worldwide.
First approaches towards alternative fuel classification:
Solid recovered fuels are part of RDF in the fact that it is produced to reach a standard such
as CEN/343 ANAS.[1] A comprehensive review is now available on SRF / RDF production,
quality standards and thermal recovery, including statistics on European SRF quality.[2]
1History of Refuse derived Fuels
2Processing
3End markets
4Measurement of the biomass fraction of RDF and SRF
6See also
7References
History of Refuse derived Fuels
In the fifties of the last century tyres were used for the first time as refuse derived fuel in the
cement industry. Continuous use of various waste-derived alternative fuels then followed in
the mid-eighties with Brennstoff aus Mll (BRAM) fuel from waste in the Westphalian
cement industry in Germany.
At that time the thought of cost reduction through replacement of fossil fuels was the priority
as considerable competition pressure weighed down on the industry. Since the eighties the
German Cement Works Association (Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e.V. (VDZ, Dsseldorf))
has been documenting the use of alternative fuels in the Federal German cement industry. In
1987 less than 5% of fossil fuels were replaced by refuse derived fuels, in 2015 its use
increased to almost 62%.
Refuse derived Fuels are used in a wide range of specilised waste to Energy Facilities, which
are using processed refuse derived fuels with lower calorific values of 8-14MJ/kg in grain
sizes of up to 500 mm to produce Electricity and theral energy (Heat/Steam) for district
heating Systems or industrial uses.
Processing
Non-combustible materials such as glass and metals are removed during the post-treatment
processing cycle with an air knife or other density separation technique. The residual material
can be sold in its processed form (depending on the process treatment) or it may be
compressed into pellet fuel, bricks or logs and used for other purposes either stand-alone or in
a recursive recycling process. [3]
RDF is extracted from municipal solid waste and other wastes using a mix of mechanical
and/or biological treatment methods.
The production of RDF may involve the following steps:
Bag splitting/Shredding
Size screening
Magnetic separation
Coarse shredding
Refining separation
End markets
RDF can be used in a variety of ways to produce electricity. It can be used alongside
traditional sources of fuel in coal power plants. In Europe RDF can be used in the cement
kiln industry, where the strict standards of the Waste Incineration Directive are met. RDF can
also be fed into plasma arc gasification modules & pyrolysis plants. Where the RDF is
capable of being combusted cleanly or in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, RDF can
provide a funding source where unused carbon credits are sold on the open market via a
carbon exchange [clarification needed]. However, the use of municipal waste contracts [clarification
needed]
and the bankability[jargon] of these solutions is still a relatively new concept, thus RDF's
financial advantage may be debatable. The European market for the production of RDF have
been grown fast due to e.g. the European landfill directive, or landfill taxes e.g. in UK and
Ireland . Refuse derived fuel (RDF) exports from the UK to Europe and beyond are
expected to have reached 3.3 million tonnes in 2015, representing a near-500,000 tonnes
increase on the previous year.
Measurement of the biomass fraction of RDF and SRF
The biomass fraction of RDF and SRF has a monetary value under multiple greenhouse gas
protocols, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and the Renewable
Obligation Certificate program in the United Kingdom. Biomass is considered to be carbon-
neutral since the CO2 liberated from the combustion of biomass is recycled in plants. The
combusted biomass fraction of RDF/SRF is used by stationary combustion operators to
reduce their overall reported CO2 emissions.
Several methods have been developed by the European CEN 343 working group to determine
the biomass fraction of RDF/SRF. The initial two methods developed (CEN/TS 15440) were
the manual sorting method and the selective dissolution method. Since each method suffered
from limitations in properly characterizing the biomass fraction, an alternative method was
developed using the principles of radiocarbon dating. A technical review (CEN/TR
15591:2007) outlining the carbon-14 method was published in 2007, and a technical standard
of the carbon dating method (CEN/TS 15747:2008) was published in 2008.[4] In the United
States, there is already an equivalent carbon-14 method under the standard method ASTM
D6866.
Although carbon-14 dating can determine with excellent precision the biomass fraction of
RDF/SRF, it cannot determine directly the biomass calorific value. Determining the calorific
value is important for green certificate programs such as the Renewable Obligation
Certificate program in the United Kingdom. These programs award certificates based on the
energy produced from biomass. Several research papers, including the one commissioned by
the Renewable Energy Association in the UK, have been published that demonstrate how the
carbon-14 result can be used to calculate the biomass calorific value.