Modeling Energy Recovery Potential from Municipal Solid Waste Using MATLAB: A Case of Mbeya City

The increasing generation of municipal solid wastes (MSW) posses both environmental and energy challenges. The study investigates the energy recovery potential from MSW generated in Mbeya City using computational modelling in MATLAB. The research focuses on characterizing the waste stream, assessing its calorific value and simulating waste to energy (WTE) conversion process including incineration, gasification and anaerobic digestion. Key parameters such as feedstock composition, process efficiencies and emissions are integrated into the model to optimize energy recovery. Results indicate that Mbeya City’s annual MSW could generate substantial electricity and heat contributing to solutions while mitigating environmental impacts. The model serves as a decision making tool for policy makers and engineers, providing insights into the feasibility and performance of WTE technologies in urban settings. This study underscores the potential of computational tools like MATLAB in advancing waste management and energy recovery systems in developing cities. In this model the results obtained for anerobic digestion process was 25895.33 MJ/day, in case of incineration daily energy produced was 420,000 MJ/day and gasification produce 756,000 MJ/day. Tola energy daily energy which can be produced in Mbeya City is 1201895.33 MJ/day.