Thermal Behavior Study of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) during Combustion by Thermogravimetric Analysis

Municipal solid waste processing has attracted the attention of the government with economic growth. The application of the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) technology in cement plants can effectively solve the issue of processing municipal solid waste (MSW). This paper focuses on studying the properties of RDF to improve its applicability in cement plants. The thermal behavior of RDF, typical components of RDF (wood, food residue, fabric, and plastic), and their mixtures are investigated by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition to TGA, kinetic analysis was also performed on RDF and its typical components. The combustion of RDF has four major thermal stages: release of moisture, combustion of volatiles, combustion of fixed-carbon, and further combustion of fixed-carbon. The synergistic effect does not exist during the co-combustion process of biomass and biomass components of RDF, but it does during the co-combustion of biomass and combustible non-biomass of RDF, leading to a lower activation energy of RDF at 200-400 degrees C and 400-600 degrees C. The combustion of typical components can be approximately regarded as a first-order reaction.