Optimization and evaluation of a municipal solid waste-to-energy system using taguchi technique in a tri-generation system based on gas turbine with air and steam agents

There is a recognized need for treating the municipal solid waste which causes serious environmental problems. There has been substantial research undertaken on the role of municipal solid waste in integrated energy systems. However, the contribution of Taguchi technique has received little attention within the field of municipal solid waste-to-energy systems. This study set out to examine the capability of utilizing the Taguchi technique in optimization and evaluation of a tri-generation system based on gas turbine. L25 orthogonal array of Taguchi technique has been utilized considering compression factor of compressor, maximum temperature of input stream to the gas turbine, and municipal solid waste fed to the combustion chamber as the input variables. Electrical power of the system, heating air and water capacities of the system, system efficiency, and normalized emission have been also considered as the tri-generation system performance indicators. The air-based system operates optimally at compression ratio of 10, maximum temperature of 900 degrees C, and fed MSW of 1 mol/s while compression factor of 15, maximum temperature of 1000 degrees C, and fed MSW of 1.2 mol/s are optimum conditions for steam-based system. Overall, air-based system operates better than steam-based system with electrical power of 317.6 kW, heating air capacity of 678.4 m3/min, heating water capacity of 288.7 L/min, efficiency of 79.3%, and normalized emission of 8.58 g/kW.min.