You serve as the president of XYZ Corporation, which is an energy-intensive manufacturing operation. You have four boilers to produce steam and electricity for your operations. One is a semi-suspension fired boiler with a capacity of 100 tons of coal per hour. The boiler can also burn supplemental fuel such as coconut or macadamia nut shells. The other three boilers are peaking units and burn fuel oil. The City of Podunk has approached you about the possibility of burning their solid waste as a supplemental fuel. As the president of the XYZ Corporation, you need to develop answers to many political, social, and technical questions before you make a commitment to the city.
a. What specific questions would you ask your own power plant engineer about the possibility of accepting Podunk's MSW?
b. What specific additional data would you need from the city before you discuss this further?