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Article
The Prediction of Calorific Value of Carbonized Solid Fuel Produced from Refuse-Derived Fuel in the Low-Temperature Pyrolysis in CO2
Materials
  • Ewa Syguła, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
  • Kacper Świechowski, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
  • Paweł Stępień, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
  • Jacek A. Koziel, Iowa State University
  • Andrzej Białowiec, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-1-2021
DOI
10.3390/ma14010049
Abstract

The decrease in the calorific value of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is an unintended outcome of the progress made toward more sustainable waste management. Plastics and paper separation and recycling leads to the overall decrease in waste’s calorific value, further limiting its applicability for thermal treatment. Pyrolysis has been proposed to densify energy in RDF and generate carbonized solid fuel (CSF). The challenge is that the feedstock composition of RDF is variable and site-specific. Therefore, the optimal pyrolysis conditions have to be established every time, depending on feedstock composition. In this research, we developed a model to predict the higher heating value (HHV) of the RDF composed of eight morphological refuse groups after low-temperature pyrolysis in CO2 (300–500 °C and 60 min) into CSF. The model considers cardboard, fabric, kitchen waste, paper, plastic, rubber, PAP/AL/PE (paper/aluminum/polyethylene) composite packaging pack, and wood, pyrolysis temperature, and residence time. The determination coefficients (R2) and Akaike information criteria were used for selecting the best model among four mathematical functions: (I) linear, (II) second-order polynomial, (III) factorial regression, and (IV) quadratic regression. For each RDF waste component, among these four models, the one best fitted to the experimental data was chosen; then, these models were integrated into the general model that predicts the HHV of CSF from the blends of RDF. The general model was validated experimentally by the application to the RDF blends. The validation revealed that the model explains 70–75% CSF HHV data variability. The results show that the optimal pyrolysis conditions depend on the most abundant waste in the waste mixture. High-quality CSF can be obtained from wastes such as paper, carton, plastic, and rubber when processed at relatively low temperatures (300 °C), whereas wastes such as fabrics and wood require higher temperatures (500 °C). The developed model showed that it is possible to achieve the CSF with the highest HHV value by optimizing the pyrolysis of RDF with the process temperature, residence time, and feedstock blends pretreatment

Comments

This article is published as Syguła, E., Świechowski, K., Stępień, P., Koziel, J.A., and Białowiec, A. The Prediction of Calorific Value of Carbonized Solid Fuel Produced from Refuse-Derived Fuel in the Low-Temperature Pyrolysis in CO2. Materials 14, no. 1 (2021): 49. DOI: 10.3390/ma14010049. Posted with permission.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Ewa Syguła, Kacper Świechowski, Paweł Stępień, Jacek A. Koziel, et al.. "The Prediction of Calorific Value of Carbonized Solid Fuel Produced from Refuse-Derived Fuel in the Low-Temperature Pyrolysis in CO2" Materials Vol. 14 Iss. 1 (2021) p. 49
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jacek_koziel/397/