Modeling the heating value of Municipal Solid Waste

The most common methods currently being practiced to evaluate the heating value of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are by using the equation derived by Dulong, or experimentally by using the bomb calorimeter. There have been numerous other mathematical equations, which were created based on data from the physical composition, proximate or elemental analysis of the MSW. Questions have been raised on the size of the samples used for the experiments and on the applicability of these equations in different parts of the globe. This study was initiated to tackle these problems and also to establish a mathematical model that could calculate the Higher Heating Value of Malaysian MSW. Results showed that the correlation from the physical composition gave the best correlation coefficient when compared to the other correlation created based on the proximate or elemental analysis results. The new equations were also tested against other established equations and produced better results in all the different categories. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.