Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

SENER has developed and patented high efficiency steam cycles with tried-and-tested robustness in the energy recovery of municipal solid waste (MSW).

This application uses thermodynamic cycles, called SENER-2 and SENER-4, at high steam pressures and low temperatures, that are regenerative and have two phases of pressure: high (superheated steam) and low (reheated steam) in two-stage steam turbines, that are able to exceed the traditional technical and financial drawbacks of the processing of municipal solid waste.

The benefits provided by this SENER solution are:

Technical:

• reduction of corrosion problems in the furnace (T<400 °C)
• increase of overall performance

 Environmental and social:

• primary energy savings through renewables: 47% (≈ 44,000 TEQ/year)
• replacement of primary energy with renewable energy in an amount corresponding to 23,500 TEQ/year
• reduction of CO₂ emissions equivalent to 440,000 t/year
• reduction of environmental impact by kWhe

Economic:

• improved availability and performance
• reduced operating and maintenance costs
• reduced costs for MSW treatment and management 

Along these lines, the SENER 2 thermodynamic cycle has been applied in the Zabalgarbi MSW power plant in Bilbao (Spain), which has been in operation since 2004.