Abstract: To investigate the techno-economic performance of solid recovered fuel (SRF) production from municipal solid waste (MSW) in China’s county regions, three short-flow SRF preparation processes，namely mechanical sorting, bio-drying, high pressure extrusion and bio-drying, were examined. Considering the characteristics of SRF production, the techno-economic performance of these processes was assessed in terms of investment, internal rate of return, economic transportation radius, and non-subsidized income proportion. Techno-economic analysis of MSW incineration was also carried out for comparison. Additionally, by integrating the four techno-economic indicators above, a comprehensive techno-economic index (CTE) was developed to evaluate the overall techno-economic performance of three SRF preparation processes. The result indicated that the production of SRF could increase power generation revenue, reduce transportation costs, and increase the net income of MSW incineration. The net income (in tons MSW) of the SRF preparation process ranged from 19.1 to 35.9 yuan, which was considerably higher than the 4.8 yuan for MSW incineration. When the MSW disposal allowance was 70.0 yuan/t, the biological drying process had the largest economic transportation radius of 90.9 km, which was 71.0% greater than that of MSW incineration. This significantly expanded the service scope of incineration plants, and was benefit to improve the MSW incineration rate in remote areas, resulting better environmental and economic benefits. Among the three SRF preparation processes, the bio-drying process exhibits the most favorable comprehensive techno-economic performance, followed by high pressure extrusion and bio-drying, and mechanical sorting.

Key words: solid recovered fuel, municipal solid waste, techno-economic analysis, incineration