Energy and environmental analyses of a sustainable multi-generation municipal solid waste-to-energy integrated system for hydrogen production

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a global challenge, and its efficient treatment is critical to reducing environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. MSW-to-energy systems have emerged as a promising solution for sustainable waste management. Hydrogen production from MSW offers several benefits, including reducing reliance on fossil fuels, mitigating climate change, and promoting circular economy principles. The main aim of this study is to design and model an innovative integrated energy system to convert an MSW stream to hydrogen in a multi-generation system. In this regard, a gas turbine cycle, a proton exchange membrane, and a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle are integrated and produce hydrogen, power, oxygen, heated air, and heated water. Energy and environmental analyses are implemented on the system and its performance is multi-objectively optimized using the Taguchi technique and the signal to noise analysis. The contributions of the input variables on the system performance are evaluated using the analysis of variance. Municipal solid waste of 1.75 kg/min, inlet turbine temperature of 850 °C, and pressure ratio of 10 are recognized as the optimum conditions. The system produces 472 kW of power, 57.7 g/min of hydrogen, 458 g/min of oxygen, 480 m3/min of heated air, and 12.2 L/min of heated water in the optimum state. The system presents the efficiency of 79.3% and emits 8.32 g/kW.min of carbon dioxide.