Summary:

The article addresses the most important issues of the mass service theory (queuing theory) useful for organization of municipal waste transfer stations. In modern waste management transfer stations (temporary waste deposition sites) are a most important issue, since they influence the way of waste transport to further distances and at lower costs. All elements composing the transfer station are interrelated by a technological process. The work aims highlight a potential utilization of queuing theory as a tool make more efficient the work at a transfer station. Examples of queues which happen at transfer stations were analyzed to illustrate the problem. Hypothetical data were used for computations. The article presents also the most important terms connected with transfer stations and an outline of queuing theory in its queuing theory in its aspect serviceable in the organization of work at municipal waste transfer stations. The input data assumed for the project, comprised mainly the waste quantity produced in the subsequent years of the transfer station operation (15-20 years), mean generated wastes (kg per person per day), the area serviced by the station (the number of inhabitants), mean rate of waste generation (tone per day) and also data pertaining to the current operation of the station, such as: mean rate of waste generation (7 days a week), mean rate of sewage disposal (6 days per week), number of days with peak load, projected throughput (tones per day), employment at peak hours and planned throughput at peak hours (tones per hour). The parameter stated above concern municipal wastes, their amount and irregularity of supplies during the week and peak hours. These problems involve proper selection of the equipment to realize the station tasks (e.g. transport equipment, technological equipment, necessary technological areas, etc.) Application of the queuing theory allows to balance work of these components in a single technological sequence. The initial stage of this sequence was studied, i.e. the first place where queues are formed (a queue by the car scale). Three variants of queues model were discussed for the full analysis, i.e. with one or many service channels or with one or many entry streams. An analysis of all variants showed that the option with multi channel service system (one entry stream and two service channels) was the best solution due to queue length and queuing time. The queuing models (one channel and multi channel) presented in the work (using the formulas suggested in the paper) may be utilized for organization of transfer station operations.