Open Access

ARTICLE

Combustion Characteristics of Solid Refuse Fuels from Different Waste Sources

by Jong Seong Chae, Seok Wan Kim, Tae In Ohm

1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, 34158, Korea
2 Department of Fire and Environmental Safety, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, 38610, Korea

* Corresponding Author: Tae In Ohm. Email:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2020, 8(7), 789-799. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2020.010023

Received 05 February 2020; Accepted 17 April 2020; Issue published 01 June 2020

Abstract

In the production (as co-fuel or alone) of solid refuse fuel (SRF), knowledge about the characteristics of the raw materials is required for an ecofriendly and effective combustion process. SRFs are commonly produced by drying combustible waste and removing incombustible matter, resulting in a higher combustibility as compared to the original waste. However, the characteristics of SRFs may highly vary depending on where and from which materials they were produced. Thus, we investigated the characteristics of various SRFs using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). As a TGA sample is commonly small, on the scale of milligrams, and, unlike homogeneous fuels, SRFs are heterogeneous, individual SRF samples analysed with this method may not represent the bulk material, and sample properties may vary significantly between batches. Therefore, we further performed combustion experiments using a small-scale combustor and sample sizes from 1 to 10 g. To optimise SRF combustor design and determine the SRF characteristics, proximate, elemental, heating value, TG, and differential thermogravimetric analyses were conducted, and weight losses and gas concentrations at different temperatures were measured upon combustion. The lower heating values of the three analysed SRFs were 20,976, 16,873, and 19,762 kJ/kg, and their Cl contents were 0.89, 0.95, and 1.27 wt.% (legal criterion [Cl] < 2.0 wt.%). TGA and small combustor experiments showed that complete weight loss was achieved below 500°C. However, CO was detected until 620°C.

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