The increasing energy demand in Jordan, compounded with the country's limited natural resources as well as its dependence on importing fuel oil from neighboring countries, makes it indispensible to search for alternative fuels. The objective of this study is to analyze the potential use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) as a supplementary fuel in Jordan, for this purpose. Nine of the major RDFs generated in Jordan were chosen for this study: wastewater sludge, oil refinery sludge, olive oil husk, olive oil residue, chicken farm waste, sheep farm waste, used cooking oil, used oil, and waste tires. The energy content was measured for each one and the results were verified using five different empirical elemental analyses. Results of measuring and calculating the higher heating value (HHV) of the samples showed that used oil had the highest potential as an alternative fuel at 45.36 MJ/kg and the residual olive waste had the lowest heating content at 5.02 MJ/kg. Results also showed that there was a good agreement between the measured and calculated values. The calculating models showed that there was a positive correlation between the HHV and C% and negative correlation between HHV and ash%. Further research is planned to be conducted into the implementation of the concept of waste to energy in the Jordanian industrial sector.
Implications: It has been necessary to measure the higher heating value (HHV) of different types of RDFs in Jordan to estimate their potential use as supplementary fuels. The amounts generated per year in Jordan are a crucial factor to make it feasible to use these. Used oil, used cooking oil, and waste tires could be the most promising supplementary fuels.