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Article
Waste to Carbon: Densification of Torrefied Refuse-Derived Fuel
Energies
  • Andrzej Białowiec, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
  • Monika Micuda, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
  • Jacek A. Koziel, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
11-21-2018
DOI
10.3390/en11113233
Abstract

In this work, for the first time, the feasibility of obtaining carbonized refuse-derived fuel (CRDF) pelletization from municipal solid waste (MSW) was shown. Production of CRDF by torrefaction of MSW could be the future of recycling technology. The objective was to determine the applied pressure needed to produce CRDF pellets with compressive strength (CS) comparable to conventional biomass pellets. Also, the hypothesis that a binder (water glass (WG)) applied to CRDF as a coating can improve CS was tested. The pelletizing was based on the lab-scale production of CRDF pellets with pressure ranging from 8.5 MPa to 76.2 MPa. The resulting CS pellets increased from 0.06 MPa to 3.44 MPa with applied pelletizing pressure up to the threshold of 50.8 MPa, above which it did not significantly improve (p < 0.05). It was found that the addition of 10% WG to 50.8 MPa CRDF pellets or coating them with WG did not significantly improve the CS (p < 0.05). It was possible to produce durable pellets from CRDF. The CS was comparable to pine pellets. This research advances the concept of energy recovery from MSW, particularly by providing practical information on densification of CRDF originating from the torrefaction of the flammable fraction of MSW–refuse-derived fuel. Modification of CRDF through pelletization is proposed as preparation of lower volume fuel with projected lower costs of its storage and transportation and for a wider adoption of this technology.

Comments

This article is published as Białowiec, Andrzej, Monika Micuda and Jacek A. Koziel, "Waste to Carbon: Densification of Torrefied Refuse-Derived Fuel." Energies 11 (2018): 3233. DOI: 10.3390/en11113233. Posted with permission.

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Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
The Authors
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Andrzej Białowiec, Monika Micuda and Jacek A. Koziel. "Waste to Carbon: Densification of Torrefied Refuse-Derived Fuel" Energies Vol. 11 Iss. 11 (2018) p. 3233
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jacek_koziel/239/