Recently, the concept of “waste minimization and a sustainable resource circulation society” has become a global issue as the key term waste management policy, the effective use of waste, has been emphasized. Research that converts wastes from incinerators into energy is actively underway as a countermeasure for this issue. The most important factor, the lower heating value (LHV), is the amount of heat (excepting the latent heat of water vapor) generated when the fuel is completely burned, and it is necessary to analyze the combustion performance and economic efficiency of waste incineration facilities. The current LHV estimation methods of the Dulong equation and calorimeter through sampling cannot produce results that reflect the operation status of the incineration facility and the waste characteristics. Consequently, an objective and quantitative LHV formula (LHVKorea) was derived based on the operating data from the domestic municipal solid waste incineration facilities in this study. Additionally, by comparing LHVKorea and LHVEU, the error range of the two formulas is analyzed. The average result of LHVKorea is 2,318kcal/kg (1,788 ~ 2,734 kcal/kg), and an error range of 5% appears between LHVKorea and LHVEU.

Municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash was used for accelerated carbonation via bubbling of gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) after treatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The influence of alkaline concentration and volumetric flowrate of CO2 was investigated. Experimental results showed that carbonation reduced the leaching of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cr. The pH of leachate decreased from around 12 to 10.5. The content of soluble chlorides was also decreased after carbonation. Additionally, the application of accelerated carbonation enhanced the sequestration of CO2 from MSW incineration plants. The TG/DSC analysis indicated that MSWI fly ash sequestrated approximately 185 g CO2/kg waste.