Meet Rita Blessing Aisgbe, an MPhil student in Chemical Engineering, working on optimising a pyrolysis system at the Gyankobaa Waste-to-Energy Plant in Ghana, at the Brew-Hammond Energy Centre, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Her project, “Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste: Experimental Optimisation and Life Cycle Assessment of a Pyrolysis System,” focuses on improving the performance of a pyrolysis system at the Gyankobaa Waste-to-Energy Plant in Ghana.

With the increasing urgency to find sustainable waste management solutions, Rita’s research aims to unlock the energy potential in municipal solid waste, particularly plastic and organic components.

Through experimental optimisation, Rita mentioned that she will vary key operating parameters including temperature, residence time, and feedstock ratios to determine the most efficient conditions for producing pyrolysis oil, a valuable energy product.

She added that she will conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of the optimised pyrolysis system across all its operational stages. This approach is expected to provide both technical insights and sustainability perspectives, aiding future decisions on waste-to-energy strategies in Ghana.

Her research is supported by the Hybrid Waste-to-Energy project at the Centre, a major initiative aimed at promoting innovative energy recovery technologies.