Fuel pellets from fine paper mill sludge supplemented by sawdust and by refined recovered lubricating oil

Abstract

Fine paper mill sludge (FPMS) disposal has emerged as a problem since the dumping of FPMS was banned. This study investigated the effects of adding a refined recovered lubricating oil (ion-refined oil) to FPMS pellets to increase its heating value and combustion time and decrease ash content and ignition time. Fuel pellets were prepared in three conditions, C-1, C-2, and C-3. In C-1, ion-refined oil was added to FPMS to examine its burning capability. In C-2, two types of pellets were produced mixing sawdust and FPMS ratios of 25:75 and 50:50. A ratio of 50:50 was selected for C-3, to which the ion-refined oil was added in different ratios. The quality of the energy fuel pellets was determined using proximate and ultimate analyses, except for chlorine content, which was determined through liquid ion chromatography. The properties of fuel pellets were determined and compared with national standards. It was confirmed that the results for pellets at a ratio of 50:50 with 10% and 15% ion-refined oil were acceptable, because these results were comparatively similar to the standards. Finally, it was concluded that ion-refined oil was an effective additive to FPMS to increase the heating value for energy demand and lower the ash content.