Evaluation of Use of SRF as AFR in Cement Kiln

In India, large quantum of non-hazardous waste gets collected as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) from households and commercial and industrial establishments. This waste, being a non-homogenous mix of various wet and dry fractions, does not provide viable opportunity to recover the material and energy value present in the same. Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) is a material prepared by processing non-hazardous dry waste collected from commercial and industrial establishments, produced and utilized as Alternative Fuel and raw material (AFR) in cement kilns in many countries around the world. In India, also this material offers a vast potential for utilizing as an AFR in cement kilns. Considering vast availability of the dry material from commercial and industrial establishments in India, it was considered relevant to evaluate the feasibility of its collection and transportation separately and then processing it into SRF for use as AFR in cement plants in India. This necessitated evaluating the feasibility for use of SRF as AFR in cement kiln. The co-processing feasibility of SRF in cement process was evaluated by implementing co-processing trial of SRF imported from SUEZ, UK in Wadi Cement plant of ACC Limited as per the protocol prescribed by CPCB. This study report provides the detailed assessment of the results of the co-processing trial conducted on SRF. These results indicate that SRF is an excellent material for use as AFR in cement kilns and its use in cement kiln does not impact emissions or the quality of cement. It is therefore desired that municipalities start collection and transportation dry waste from commercial and industrial institutions separately and implement their processing into SRF for use as substitute material to fossil fuels in resource-intensive industries such as cement. This study will definitely help developing collaboration between municipalities and cement industries to curb the municipal waste management problem.