Abstract
The main trend in construction of new Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants is now DBO (Design, Build, Operate) projects, in which a private-sector company undertakes a long-term operation and maintenance contract for about 20 years after construction. This is in addition to the original EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contract for construction of the facility. For this reason, plant construction companies are working on various technological developments to provide stable and secure facility operations with fewer people in the operation business area.
As one of these efforts, JFE Engineering (JFE) has been developing technology to automate the monitoring operation work that requires the maximum time to operate a plant and which has been performed for stable combustion management of the waste incinerator. In July 2020, JFE Engineering announced the industry’s first fully automated incinerator operation utilizing AI and Big Data Analysis “BRA-ING” as a product. The company is currently expanding to introduce this to facilities where JFE operates.
This article introduces the background of the development of automatic operation technology for WtE plants. It demonstrates that stable combustion management is possible without the need for operator monitoring and operation work in facilities that have introduced this technology in actual operation.
