Quality Analysis of Refused-Derived Fuel as Alternative Fuels in the Cement Industry and Its Evaluation on Production*

Refused Derived Fuels (RDF) as an alternative fuel from municipal solid waste (MSW) is still required by the cement industry. Besides it has a high calorific value, RDF has a more economical price than coal. RDF production is also able to solve the problem of MSW and reduce CO2 emissions. One of the cement industries in Indonesia has developed various alternative energy materials to reduce the use of coal, including rice husk, coconut fiber, and energy from MSW, which is processed into RDF. The purpose of this study is to investigate the RDF quality standard that is in accordance with the needs of the cement industry and evaluate the RDF production process. Quality Function Development (QFD) method is used to determine the parameters of RDF quality standards that are suitable for the cement industry. The results of the QFD analysis show that there are six main characteristics in the RDF quality standard based on importance response, including RDF 3–5 cm, particulate 80 mg/Nm3, humidity level ≤ 20%, mercury 5 mg/Nm3, calorific value ≥ 2500 kcal/kg and low ash content. While the evaluation of the production process shows the number of RDF rejects quite high. The priority of process improvement with root cause analysis shows that it is necessary to conduct pre-production treatment of RDF on MSW material by drying, reduce impurities content through the screening process, and ensure the design of blades on the shredder in order to achieve the targeted size. The contribution of this research is for the development of alternative fuels RDF in the cement industry, especially in determining quality standards and procedures for optimal RDF results.