TGA pyrolysis and gasification of combustible municipal solid waste

It brings modeling, design and operation of thermochemical treatment systems a huge challenge for a large variety in municipal solid waste (MSW) composition and differences in thermal behavior of MSW components. The pyrolysis and gasification characteristics of 8 different combustible solid wastes, representing the most common components of MSW, were investigated using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Their decomposed characteristics in different atmospheres (N-2 and CO2) was analyzed and compared, which identified as pyrolysis and gasification, respectively. The results showed that pyrolysis characteristics of 8 materials were similar to their gasification with the temperature less than 600 degrees C. The pyrolysis degradation of eight materials was slight above 600 degrees C, while the gasification degradation in the range of 700-900 degrees C was obvious because of the reaction between CO2 and char. The discrete distributed activation energy method (DAEM) was applied to analyze kinetics of pyrolysis and gasification. When pre-exponential factor was given as 2.2 x 10(13)(s(-1)), the activation energy of cellulose decomposed reaction was approximately 176 kJ/mol, while the activation energy of the reaction between CO2 and char was 327 kJ/mol. (C) 2014 Energy Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.