Refuse Derieved Fuel (RDF) is produced by processing MSW to increase the fuel value of the waste. The processing removes incombustible materials such as dirt, glass, metals, and very wet organics, and it makes RDF more consistent in size than raw MSW. RDF can be burned for fuel by itself or cofired with other fuels. This section covers RDF production and direct combustion by itself Cofiring of RDF with coal and other fuels is covered in Section 9. In addition, the data presented in this section cover only new facilities. Emissions and energy balances for older facilities might differ from those presented here.

RDF Production

Typical Processes. All RDF processes typically begin with shredding MSW to a finer size; many then separate the fuel fraction from the residue. In plants where no additional preparation is included, the operation is called a "shred-and-burn" RDF facility. Frequently, however, the separated fuel fraction is further processed to recover metals and sometimes glass. The normal sequence of RDF preparation is shredding, air classifying/screening, magnetic separation, and sometimes eddy current separation for nonferrous metal recovery. Many variations of the process have been developed, each of which has certain advantages. Appendix B provides detailed information on these processes.

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