Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN 2164-7682
2019, Vol. 8, No. 2

Using Waste Heat to Dry RDF: a Technical and

Environmental Assessment of the Low Temperature
Belt Dryer Technology
Sandro Conceição (Corresponding author)
InterCement Group Lisbon, Portugal
E-mail: [email protected]

João Rolim
InterCement Group Lisbon, Portugal

Received: March 15, 2019 Accepted: March 22, 2019 Published: April 30, 2019
doi:10.5296/emsd.v8i2.14441 URL: https://doi.org/10.5296/emsd.v8i2.14441

Abstract
In 2015, the Portuguese cement production company Cimpor modified the alternative fuel
supply operation of refuse derived fuel (RDF) co-processing in the main burner of one of its
cement kilns in Souselas. This modification resulted in the installation of an RDF drying unit
with low temperature belt dryer (LTBD) technology that uses cascading energy available in
Souselas cement plant. Implementation of the dryer project improves production and
efficiency of the industrial process, while also resulting in environmental benefits as it
decreases moisture and increases the lower calorific value of RDF, improving its quality. This
paper intended to determine these environmental benefits and the added value that the project
brings to the industry by presenting an energy balance and environmental assessment. This
methodology allowed to compare the use of available heat as an energy source for the dryer
instead of fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal, which concluded that the waste heat
available at the cement plant for the dryer would allow the saving of 75 to 84 kg of CO2-eq
per tonne of wet RDF to be dried. Projects such as this one may greatly help address the main
barriers of using RDF from municipal solid waste and other waste streams with high moisture
content.
Keywords: Low temperature belt dryer, Refuse derived fuel, Co-processing in cement
industry, Energy balance, Environmental assessment

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1. Introduction
The cement sector is an energy and resource intensive industry which results in significant
environmental impacts, namely greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and raw materials’
consumption (Usón et al., 2013; Supino et al., 2016; Georgiopoulou & Lyberatos, 2018).
However, this industry also contributes substantially to the national economy and can be an
important agent in the circular economy (The European Cement Association, 2015; Supino et
al., 2016) due to its capacity to close material and energy cycles that would otherwise be
wasted. As such, the transition from an economical model that is based on the
(over)exploitation of resources to an economic development model based on the circular
economy principles, which preserves and recovers the value of materials for longer periods,
is crucial to reduce pressure over the natural system. The activity of co-processing, which
resorts to the substitution of conventional fuels and raw materials with alternative fuels and
raw materials (AFR) in a standard cement production process, can be an important
contribution to this paradigm shift in the sector (European Commission, 2017).
Co-processing is a recovery solution for several waste fractions without recycling potential
that would otherwise be landfilled (Baidya et al., 2017; Global Cement and Concrete
Association, 2018). The cement kilns, with prolonged gas residence time along with high
temperatures and a high level of control and automation, offer the ideal conditions for the
safe treatment of non-recoverable materials whilst providing energy to the clinker production
process (Rahman, 2013). The environmental benefits of the use of alternative fuels in relation
to conventional fuels in the cement production process have been identified in several studies
(Genon & Brizio, 2008; Reza et al., 2013; Sarc et al., 2014; Georgiopoulou & Lyberatos,
2018).
Co-processing distinguishes itself from incineration or waste-to-energy due to the dual
recovery process that takes place in the cement kiln. The combustible fraction is used to
provide heat to the calcination process, whereas the mineral fraction is incorporated in the
clinker, replacing material inputs that would be needed. Therefore, co-processing is
simultaneously an energy and material recovery process, standing between waste-to-energy
and recycling in the waste hierarchy. This simultaneous contribution is recognised by several
organisations, both public and private (European Commission, 2011a; European Commission,
2011b; United Nations Environment Programme, 2011a; United Nations Environment
Programme, 2011b; European Commission, 2012; Joint Research Council, 2013; Ökopol
GmbH, 2004) and has long been argued by the cement sector as one of the most important
improvements in the European Union waste legislation.
In Portugal, co-processing of RDF is significantly limited by the high moisture content of
domestic RDF derived from municipal solid waste (Berardi et al., 2016; Ecofys, 2017) and
high chlorine content. Due to the low landfill taxes currently implemented in Portugal, it is
necessary to create new cost-efficient solutions to divert substantial quantities of waste from
landfill. To address this issue, Cimpor, one of two cement companies operating in Portugal,
with 3 plants, implemented a low temperature belt dryer (LTBD) that reduces the moisture
content of waste and provides a better process control, enabling a higher uptake of alternative

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fuels. The dryer was installed in the alternative fuel feeding process of the clinker production
kiln at Cimpor’s plant in Souselas, using excess hot air from the cement production process to
dry RDF, significantly contributing to increase the process efficiency and the thermal
substitution in one of its clinker kilns.
The introduction of this drying technology in industrial processes is commonly applied in
sectors such as food, biomass and sludge (Johansen van Delft, 2010; Alamia et al., 2015;
Mäkeläet al., 2017); however, the subject of RDF drying is less common in the reviewed
literature (Nzioka et al., 2016; Asadi, 2016).
This study aims to assess the dryer’s performance at a technical level and to evaluate and
quantify the potential environmental benefits of the implementation of an LTBD in Souselas
plant that reuses excess hot air from clinker production to dry RDF for co-processing in the
main kiln burner.
To assess the impacts of the dryer project in Souselas, a technical assessment was carried out,
addressing the technical specifications of the technology. Additionally, the environmental
benefits of using available heat in the LTBD instead of other heat sources were calculated, as
well as the avoided environmental impacts of resorting to solid hazardous waste mixtures
rather than RDF from municipal solid waste.
2. Technical Assessment of the LTBD
In this section, a description of the project and the drying operation conditions is presented,
including the results of a performance test carried out in 2016.
2.1 Process Description
After being delivered to the cement plant, the waste streams are transported from the waste
reception area to storage silos through a conveyor. These silos have dosing systems that
distribute the waste either to the precalciner, to the kiln burner or to the waste dryer, through a
transport system (Figure 1).

Waste Reception

Storage

LTBD

Precalciner

Kiln Burner
Waste flow

Figure 1. Schematics of the implementation of an LTBD in the cement plant at Souselas

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The previous transport system to the main burner in Souselas was carried out by pneumatic
conveying, but the municipal solid waste (MSW) composition and high moisture content
caused several problems that resulted in a low feed of alternative fuels to the kiln. To modify
this, Cimpor changed the system to a drag chain conveyor which significantly increased the
RDF feed to the kiln main burner and avoided critical malfunctions that required full
stoppages to solve. This upgrade consisted in the readjustment of the existing dosing system,
compressor and rotary valve and the installation of two new stainless-steel apron feeders
installed with Variable Speed Drive (VSD) and a new bypass valve. In normal operating
conditions, this valve is 100% open to the dryer, diverting some RDF to the bypass according
to the intensity of the first screw feeder.
After leaving the dryer, the dried RDF is transported to the main kiln burner through the
mechanical conveyor for co-processing. The goal of the project was to increase RDF
incorporation in the main kiln burner to 25 000 tonnes per year, considering a clinker
production capacity of 1 156 000 t/year.
2.2 Drying Technology
The LTBD is based on a thermal drying method that decreases RDF moisture through a
continuous process at a low temperature (projected at a maximum of 90°C). The dryer
installed in Souselas is an equipment with considerable size (approximately 20 m x 11 m x 8
m) and a high level of control that receives the waste from the transport system mentioned in
section 2.1., allowing the adjustment of several operational parameters.
The RDF is continuously fed to a polyester conveyor belt which is 12 meters long and 6
meters wide that transports the waste to the drying zone. This conveyor belt is fed by two
screw feeders which are parallel to the belt and whose height is adjustable to create a uniform
RDF layer along the belt (between 70 mm and 140 mm). Once the RDF is distributed inside
the dryer, the excess hot air flows from the clinker cooler reducing the moisture content
through convection.
The belt is slightly porous in order to be crossed from top to bottom by a stream of hot air,
which comes from the cooler’s bag filter fan exit and enters the dryer gas mixing chamber,
located in its upper part. If required, fresh air enters the mixing chamber through two flap
valves, mixing with hot air to reach an even temperature of 75 to 85°C across the top of the
belt. The mode of operation of the dryer involves hot air getting sucked from the top
downwards through the drying stock convectively. The two flap valves control the belt
temperature, reaching the set point established (Stela, 2018).
The passage of hot air through the drying stock results in the removal of water from the RDF.
The moist air that comes out of the dryer returns to the cooler stack. The gas circuit consists
of a variable speed fan, two isolating air flap valves, at the inlet and outlet of the dryer and
one adjustable valve (multilouver) installed in the duct between the bag filter fan and the
chimney. To ensure that the dryer does not leak, a rotary valve was installed at the entrance
and exit of the dryer. The dried material is discharged by a rotary screw and valve.
RDF moisture is continuously controlled at the exit of the dryer by a micro-wave sensor. This

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sensor is located at the discharge screw and the operation is monitored in the Central Control
Room (CCR). Final moisture percentage is adjusted by a Proportional-Integral-Derivative
(PID) controller which controls the dryer fan speed, according to a predefined set point.
There are four more PID controllers that allow the dryer function to work in automatic mode
and that regulate:
 The layer of RDF on the belt, by regulating the speed of the conveyor belt in order to
keep it constant;
 The dryer temperature, by regulating the opening/closure of both flap valves;
 The constant RDF feed to the dryer, by opening the bypass valve as a function of the
intensity of the screw feeder.
 The bypass opening as a function of the intensity of the screw feeder of the silo outlet
allowing a constant RDF level into the dryer.
 The equipment was dimensioned for RDF with a maximum feed rate of 10 tph, with a
maximum 40% of moisture, and an output of 7 tph, with 15% moisture. Technical
specifications of this technology are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1. Technical Specifications of the waste dryer installed in Souselas cement plant
Supplier Stela Lax Huber (Germany)
Dryer type BT 1/6200-12
RDF from municipal solid waste without foreign
Product
bodies (loose, not frozen, dust-free, 10°C)
Bulk weight ca. 100 – 250 kg/m3 (wet)
Average retention time for drying 6 to 30 minutes in active zone
Bed depth 70 – 140 mm (commissioning adjusted to 130 mm)
Drying temperature ±90°C
Dryer input capacity 10.0 tph
Dryer output capacity 7.0 tph
Input waste moisture content 40%
Output waste moisture content ±15%
Water evaporation 3.0 tph
Drying zone 72 m2 (active drying zone with stream of hot air)
Fresh air temperature of 40°C; 30-70% moisture, no dust
Dust emission < 20 mg/Nm3

2.3 Waste Streams

The waste stream that has been subjected to the drying process in the start-up phase of the
project was solid hazardous waste mixtures. According to the European List of Waste (LoW)
(European Commission, 2000), This waste stream is classified as other wastes (including
mixtures of materials) from mechanical treatment of waste containing dangerous substances
with a LoW code of 19 12 11*.
The implementation of the dryer at Souselas cement plant allowed the use of this waste as a
fuel, providing a recovery solution to a waste which previously had the landfill as its only
destination. The average characterisation of the solid hazardous waste mixtures received
between January 6th and October 31st of 2017 from different waste operators is depicted in

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Table 2.
Table 2. Average characterisation of solid hazardous waste mixtures received in Souselas
between 06/01/2017 and 31/10/2017
Moisture content LHV (dry basis) LHV (as received) Chlorine content Ash content
(% m/m) (MJ/kg) (MJ/kg) (% m/m) (% m/m)
36.4 23.3 14.0 0.9 17.6

2.4 Operation Conditions

In the beginning of November 2016, a hot commissioning1 process was performed. The
process started up with the following operating conditions whose resulting variation in RDF
moisture is presented in Table 3:
 Air flow at dryer inlet = 119 400 Nm3/h (which corresponds to 75% of maximum gas
flow – 159 000 Nm3/h);
 Air temperature at dryer inlet = 80 – 84°C (in this situation, <85°C, cold air dampers
do not open);
 The dryer fan was fixed at 90% speed;
 The multi-louver damper opened at 15%.
Table 3. RDF moisture variation in dryer hot commissioning
RDF supplier RDF Inlet Moisture (%) RDF Outlet Moisture (%)
1 19.0 1.7
2 34.3 5.0

A 24-hour performance test was carried out in which RDF samples were collected every two
hours at the dryer inlet and at the outlet (Figure 2). The average air temperature at the inlet
was 76.5°C and the dryer fan was set at a speed average of 98%.

41% 41%

40% 40%
Inlet moisture (%)

Inlet moisture (%)

Inlet moisture (average) = 38.3% Outlet moisture (average) = 8.2%

39% 39%

38% 38%

37% 37%

36% 36%

35% 35%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Sample number Sample number
Inlet moisture (%) Inlet moisture (%)

Figure 2. RDF inlet and outlet moisture variation in dryer performance test (every two

1
According to ISPE (2001) Pharmaceutical Engineering Guides for New and Renovated Facilities. Volume 5:
Commissioning & Qualification, commissioning can be defined as a “well-planned, documented, and managed engineering
approach to the start-up and turnover of facilities, systems, and equipment to the end user that results in a safe and functional
environment that meets established design requirements and stakeholder expectations”. Hot commissioning means the
design process fluids are introduced in the systems and sub-systems and operating scenarios are developed.

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hours sampling)
In this performance test, the RDF’s wet feed rate was 7.5 tph instead of 10 tph, due to kiln
input chlorine limitation, with a total water evaporation of 2.5 tph, which resulted in an outlet
moisture content of 8%. This value is actually lower than the moisture content obtained in
real operational conditions, where it ranges normally between 10 to 15%. The test proved the
dryer operation to be quite stable, as seen in the results depicted in Figure 2.
3. Environmental Assessment
Thermal drying can use the heat resulting from a fuel combustion process, such as coal and
natural gas. The implementation of an LTBD technology in Souselas that uses available heat
from the excess hot air generated in the clinker kiln to dry the RDF avoids the combustion of
those resources resulting in environmental benefits.
In this section, an environmental assessment of the project based on Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA)-based environmental indicators is developed in order to quantify and evaluate the
environmental benefits associated with the project, when compared to the same thermal
drying technology without an available heat source from an existing process. This analysis is
an iterative process, where acquired experience at the end can contribute to improve the
initial stages.
3.1 Goal and Scope Definition
The objective of this assessment was to quantify the benefits that result from the
implementation of the LTBD technology in the cement plant at Souselas by using available
waste heat from the clinker production instead of other heat sources, such as natural gas.
In order to assess this facility’s environmental impacts, a comparison was carried out between
different heat sources to the implemented technology. The functional unit of this assessment
is the amount of energy to dry one tonne of wet RDF.
The environmental assessment is applied to the LTBD technology implemented in the cement
plant in Souselas, in which the dryer operation is modelled with foreground data, i.e., data
obtained from the dryer’s performance test.
By resorting to the waste heat from the clinker production as a heat source, the drying
technology manages to avoid the combustion of natural gas in the dryer with hot water as a
heat source. Therefore, the only impacts associated with the technology are related to the
operation of the dryer itself.
Background data from the database Ecoinvent 3 (Wernet et al., 2016) was used to model the
upward processes, namely the extraction and transport of natural gas. Initially, the analysis
considered the life cycle impacts of the system equipment, namely the natural gas boiler and
the LTBD, but since their results in all impact categories were below the established cut-off,
they were excluded from the analysis.

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3.2 Assumptions and Energy Analysis

An energy analysis was carried out in order to quantify the amount of energy necessary to dry
one tonne of wet RDF according to the equipment’s real data obtained in a performance test
in Souselas. This allowed to compare the drying technologies with different heat sources and
to quantify the benefits of resorting to waste heat from the clinker production process.
Recovery of waste heat to feed the dryer is an efficient way to reduce costs and fuel
consumption. Several studies have resorted to energetic and exergetic analyses to assess the
viability of waste heat recovery in cement plants for different purposes with positive results
(Khurana et al., 2002; Wang et al., 2009; Karellas et al., 2013; Rad & Mohammadi, 2018).
𝑅𝐷𝐹
As depicted in Figure 3, a flow of RDF, with 𝑚̇𝑖𝑛 = 7.5 𝑡/ℎ, is fed into to dryer with a
𝑎𝑖𝑟
moisture content of 𝑤𝑖𝑛 = 38.3%. A flow of hot air, 𝑚̇𝑖𝑛 = 119 400 𝑁𝑚3 /ℎ, enters the
dryer at a temperature 𝑇𝑖𝑛 = 76.5℃ to reduce the moisture content of the RDF through
convection, which then exits at a temperature 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 29.1℃. After the process, the RDF
leaves the dryer with 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 8.2%.

𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒑
𝑾̇ 𝒐𝒖𝒕

𝒎̇ 𝒂𝒊𝒓
𝒊𝒏
𝒎̇ 𝒂𝒊𝒓
𝒐𝒖𝒕

LTBD
𝒎̇ 𝑹𝑫𝑭
𝑻𝒊𝒏
𝒊𝒏
𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒕
𝒎̇ 𝑹𝑫𝑭
𝒐𝒖𝒕

𝒘 𝒘
𝑸̇ 𝒂𝒊𝒓
𝑳𝑻𝑩𝑫

Figure 3. Diagram of energy balance of hot air drying in the LTBD in Souselas

𝑎𝑖𝑟
The operational condition set at the dryer for air flow (𝑚̇𝑖𝑛 ) is 119 400 Nm3/h. Knowing
𝑎𝑖𝑟
the air density is 1.29 kg/Nm3, the air mass flowrate 𝑚̇𝑖𝑛 is 154 294 kg/h.
The quantity of evaporated water (𝑊̇ ) during the performance test can be determined by
equation (1):

𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝 100−𝑤𝑖𝑛
𝑊̇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑚̇𝑖𝑛
𝑅𝐷𝐹
(1 − ) (1)
100−𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑡

Where,
𝑅𝐷𝐹
 𝑚̇𝑖𝑛 = 7.5 𝑡/ℎ;
 𝑤𝑖𝑛 = 38.3%;

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 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 8.2%.
Therefore, the drying process evaporates 2.46 tonnes of water per hour from the flow of RDF.
The minimum energy required to evaporate water at a room temperature of 15ºC is given by
the enthalpy of evaporation of saturated water (hfg) (Çengel & Boles, 2002), which is 2 465.9
kJ/kg. To evaporate 2.46 tonnes of water per hour, as previously determined, a minimum
quantity of energy (𝑄̇𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ) of 1 684 kW is required.

It is possible to calculate the amount of heat transferred from the waste hot air flow from the
clinker cooler in the LTBD, using equation (2)
𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷
𝑎𝑖𝑟
= 𝑚̇̅̅̅̅
𝐶𝑝∆𝑇 (2)

Where,

𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷
𝑎𝑖𝑟
– air energy flowrate (kJ/h);
𝑚̇ – air mass flowrate (kg/h);
̅̅̅̅ – average specific heat capacity of the air (kJ/kgK);
𝐶𝑝
∆𝑇 – temperature difference (K).
According to the table of thermophysical properties of gases at atmospheric pressure
(Incropera, 1996), the specific heat for both air temperatures at the inlet and the outlet of the
dryer are 1.007 kJ/kgK at 300 K and 1.009 kJ/kgK at 350 K. Using the average of these
specific heat values, one can determine that 𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷
𝑎𝑖𝑟
is 2 048 kW.
This represents the real heat flowrate, because it was calculated with measured data from the
installed dryer in Souselas, thus taking into account the minimum energy required to
evaporate the water from the RDF, as well as other process inefficiencies of the dryer. When
compared to the theoretical minimum required energy to evaporate 2.46 tonnes of water per
hour, 𝑄̇𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 , one can conclude that the dryer has an efficiency of 82%.

If instead of using the waste heat from the clinker cooler in the LTBT, the Souselas plant
resorted to hot water as a heat source, a heat exchanger would be installed in the dryer and a
boiler would have to be installed along with it, as represented in Figure 4.

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Air flow

Heat exchanger

LTBD

Water flow

Boiler

Fuel

Figure 4. Diagram of energy flows in the LTBD in Souselas with hot water as heat
source
An energy balance was developed in order to determine the amount of fuel that was necessary
to produce the required energy to dry the RDF in the LTBD until its moisture content was 8.2%
with hot water as a heat source.
As suggested by the LTBD technology supplier, if the dryer were to resort to a hot water
system instead of waste heat, the water flow would be required to have a flow temperature of
90ºC and a return flow temperature of 70ºC.
Knowing the enthalpies of saturated liquid water (Çengel & Boles, 2002) at those
temperatures (376.92 kJ/kg at 90ºC and 292.98 kJ/kg at 70ºC), it is possible to determine,
through equation 3, that a water flow (𝑚̇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 ) of 88 m3/h was required.

𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
= 𝑚̇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 × (ℎ𝑓 𝑇=90º𝐶 − ℎ𝑓 𝑇=70º𝐶 ) (3)

Considering that both systems would require the same amount of energy, that is, 𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷
𝑎𝑖𝑟
=
𝑄̇𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷 = 2 048 𝑘𝑊, and assuming a range efficiency of 80-90% for the boiler, one can
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

determine the required fuel energy, given by equation 4,

𝑄 ̇ 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
= 𝐿𝑇𝐵𝐷 (4)
𝜂𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟

which can vary between 8 191 MJ/h (for a 90% efficiency) and 9 215 MJ/h (for an 80%
efficiency).
4. Results and Discussion
4.1 Energy Balance
It is possible to quantify the impacts of using natural gas to produce hot water for the LTBD,
as represented in Figure 5. Knowing the quantity of fuel energy required to produce hot water

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with an energy content of 2 048 kW and the lower heating value (LHV) for natural gas (48
MJ/kg), according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2006), it is possible to
determine the necessary quantity of natural gas, which can vary between 23 and 26 kg of fuel
per tonne of wet RDF, depending on the boiler efficiency.

273 kWh 273 kWh

303-341 kWh

ENERGY FROM ENERGY FROM

Natural Gas
HOT WATER HOT AIR

1 tonne 754 kg
DRYING WITH LTBD AT
WET HSW DRY HSW MAIN KILN BURNER
SOUSELAS

Figure 5. Schematics of the drying process at Souselas LTBD with two different heat
sources
With the results of the energy balance of the LTBD it is possible to develop an environmental
assessment based on LCA-based environmental indicators. The method ILCD 2011 Midpoint
v1.09 (European Commission et al., 2010), which is currently recommended at a European
level, was applied in order to calculate the environmental impacts from heat production with
natural gas.
The use of the ILCD method in LCA software SimaPro (PRéConsultants, 2018) provides a
set of indicators for different impact categories that reflect potential impacts related to
pollutant emissions or resource consumption thus allowing to determine the environmental
impacts of heat production with natural gas at the characterisation stage (with physical units),
as depicted in Table 4, and at the normalisation stage (results are normalised by the impact of
an average citizen’s activity). From these results, it is then possible to identify the more
relevant environmental impact categories (Figure 6).
Table 4. Classification and characterisation of the impacts of heat production from natural gas
for the functional unit (Method: ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ V1.09 / EC-JRC Global, equal
weighting)
Classification Characterisation
90% boiler
Impact Category 80% boiler efficiency Unit
efficiency
Climate change 83.8895 74.5685 kg CO2 eq
Ozone depletion 0.0000 0.0000 kg CFC-11 eq
Human toxicity, non-cancer effects 0.0000 0.0000 CTUh
Human toxicity, cancer effects 0.0000 0.0000 CTUh
Particulate matter 0.0095 0.0084 kg PM2.5 eq
Ionizing radiation HH 1.5752 1.4002 kBq U235 eq
Ionizing radiation E (interim) 0.0000 0.0000 CTUe
Photochemical ozone formation 0.0712 0.0633 kg NMVOC eq
Acidification 0.1157 0.1028 molc H+ eq

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Terrestrial eutrophication 0.1695 0.1506 molc N eq

Freshwater eutrophication 0.0006 0.0005 kg P eq
Marine eutrophication 0.0155 0.0137 kg N eq
Freshwater ecotoxicity 5.0158 4.4584 CTUe
Land use 46.9055 41.6938 kg C deficit
Water resource depletion -0.0001 0.0000 m3 water eq
Mineral, fossil & renewable resource depletion 0.0001 0.0001 kg Sb eq

0.014 0.014

0.012 0.012

0.010 0.010
equivalent persons

0.008 0.008

0.006 0.006

0.004 0.004

0.002 0.002

0.000 0.000
Climate change Ozone Human toxicity,Human toxicity, Particulate Photochemical Acidification Terrestrial Mineral, fossil
depletion non-cancer cancer effects matter ozone eutrophication & ren resource
effects formation depletion
Method: ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ V1.09 / EC-JRC Global, equal weighting

90% efficiency 80% efficiency

Figure 6. Avoided impacts of heat production from natural gas for drying one tonne of
wet RDF with a boiler efficiency of 80% and 90% (Method: ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ V1.09 /
EC-JRC Global, equal weighting)
There is clear evidence of the benefits of using waste heat as a heat source for the LTBD in
comparison to hot water with heat production with natural gas. These benefits are more
significant in the climate change category, mostly due to the emission of methane in its
combustion, which has a high global warming potential value. The combustion of natural gas
obviously results in significant impacts on fossil depletion.
4.2 Dryer Implementation Results
Operational results of co-processing dried solid hazardous waste mixtures during one year of
operation of the dryer are depicted in Table 5.
Table 5. Operational results of the dryer’s first year of operation in Souselas cement plant
Inlet (40% moisture) Outlet (15% moisture)
Alternative fuel Type HWM
Consumed amount (t) 13 096 8 755
LHV (kcal/kg) 2 900 4 338
Thermal substitution (%) 4.5%
Replaced fuel Type Petcoke
LHV (kcal/kg) 7 609
Saved amount (t) 4 991

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With the project implementation it was possible to increase the RDF feed to the kiln main
burner from the previous 2.5 tph (30-40% average moisture) to a maximum of 7 tph (15%
moisture) corresponding to 30-50% of RDF total thermal substitution (main burner +
precalciner). The limitation of this process is the chlorine content in RDF and, as such, the
dryer has more capacity than what can be used in the kiln system.
As a result of the implementation of the drying technology, solid hazardous waste mixtures
can now fulfil the requirements for co-processing and be safely disposed of, whereas if not
for this activity, this waste stream would be landfilled and petcoke would have been used
instead. Co-processing of this waste stream therefore avoided the emission of four thousand
tonnes of CO2.
5. Conclusions
This paper determined the potential environmental benefits of the low temperature belt dryer
installed at Souselas cement plant that reuses excess hot air from clinker production to dry
RDF for co-processing in the main kiln burner.
A technical assessment was developed describing the success of the installation due to its
fully-automated process with negligible maintenance requirements during its first year of
operation and its capability to dry a wide variety of RDF while ensuring the compliance of all
EU environmental requirements. The installation of the dryer helped to reduce the Souselas
plant’s dependency on fossil fuels and decrease its CO2 emissions by increasing the use of
alternative fuels in its fuel mix.
Dryers can be powered by all different types of fuels, such as natural gas or biomass, however,
by using excess hot air, the LTBD in Souselas further reduces fuel consumption as well as its
production costs. If the available waste heat was not the energy source for the dryer then a
system of hot water production that includes a boiler and a heat exchanger would need to be
installed in order to produce drying hot air. The carried out streamlined LCA determined that
the dryer would have required between 1 092 and 1 229 MJ of fuel per tonne of wet RDF,
depending on the boiler efficiency. If natural gas were to be used, it would have resulted in
CO2-eq emissions between 75 and 84 kg per tonne of wet RDF to be dried.
The dryer is a proof-of-concept project that can easily be extended to other facilities, not only
cement plants but also waste incinerators or other energy intensive industries. The replication
of this project at most cement kilns and other waste-to-energy solutions would potentially
boost the environmental benefits of the process at a national level by diverting substantial
quantities of waste from landfill which couldn’t have been recovered before, thus addressing
the limitation of low quality of national RDF due to high moisture content in the national
waste management sector.
Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the funded project by the
European Regional development Fund (ERDF), granted in the Operational Programme for
Competitiveness and Internationalisation – COMPETE 2020, under project

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POCI-01-0249-FEDER-000770.
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