Combustion of an artificial municipal solid waste in a laboratory fluidised bed reactor

The aim of this project was to prepare an artificial municipal solid waste (MSW) fuel for combustion experiments in a laboratory-scale fluidised bed reactor. The major advantages with an artificial MSW are that: (i) the composition is very homogeneous; (ii) the content of elements is very well-known; and (iii) the mixture can easily be changed as the MSW content is changed. A well-controlled combustion process together with an artificial fuel enables detailed studies of the formation mechanisms of organic micropollutants (OMP), such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The design and preparation of an artificial MSW fuel are described in this paper. The similarity in emission levels and homologue profile of the PCDD/Fs in the artificial MSW fuel combustion and in full-scale MSW combustors indicates that the artificial fuel mixture gave the same precursor formation and catalytic reactions that full-scale MSW combustion, i.e. the most important reaction pathways are the same in the two systems.