Cti2000.it

QUOVADIS - Quality Management, Organisation, Validation of Standards, Developments and Inquiries for Solid Recovered Fuels

Progetto EIE/031/S07.38597 sviluppato nell'ambito del Programma Intelligent Energy for Europe

Official web site: http://quovadis.erse-web.it/

Waste-to-energy Solid Recovered Fuels are prepared from non-hazardous waste. Their use is regulated under EU legislation and implies specifications for commercial or regulatory purposes. SRFs are seen as important contribution to a sustainable EU waste management. Directive 2001/77/EC includes in its scope the production of electricity from biomass, being defined as the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture, forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste. In this context the EC gave a mandate (M325) to CEN to develop and validate Technical Specification (TS) concerning SRF for energy recovery and to transform these TS into European Standards. To meet these requests, the consortium proposes a holistic validation programme covering quality management and the validation exercises for the pre-standards of CEN TC 343. Results dissemination and knowledge exchange in the enlarged EU is then envisaged.

QUOVADIS Project focuses on the requirements of Mandate M325, i.e. the organisation and evaluation of the validation and ruggedness tests for sampling, sample pre-treatment, and measurement Technical Specification (TS) according to the general principles of ISO 5725 . This includes also the preparation and distribution of 5 appropriate test materials. The work will include also a validation of the TS for Quality Management based on a cost-benefit analysis and of the TS for a SRF classification system.
The project considers also the endorsement of the new standards and the respective Acquis Communautaire in the new Member States. To this end, special emphasis is given the dissemination of the work results in the New Member States

Thus, the project had three main objectives:

• Validation of Quality management and classification system (M325)
• Validation of analytical Technical Specifications (M325)
• Dissemination of results to the new MS and assessment of SRF market potential in the EU-25.

The following work items were produced:

• Quality management systems (QM) and classification systems
• Validation of TS for QM in SRF by the assessment of existing QM, application of the TS to three pilot plants and performance of a cost-benefit analysis including environmental aspects
• Creation of a database on SRF in Europe according to the classification system.

Validation of measurement and testing TS

• Production of 5 test materials for validation intercomparisons
• Organisation of validation tests (ISO 5725) for physical and chemical parameters
• Organisation of collaborative field studies for validation of sampling procedure sample
• Validation of sample reduction TS by a selected reference laboratory.

Dissemination of results and access to new markets in the AC

• Evaluation of waste management strategies and of the potentials of SRF in the Accession Countries
• Organisation of WS on SRF in the AC+
• Final conference event on SRF-market, standardization and policy.