Low Chlorine Fuel Pellets Production from the Mixture of Hydrothermally Treated Hospital Solid Waste, Pyrolytic Plastic Waste Residue and Biomass

Md Tanvir Alam,Kunio Yoshikawa,Sang-Yeop Lee,Dhruba Bhatta,Yong-Chil Seo,Jang-Soo Lee

doi:10.3390/en12224390

Md Tanvir Alam, Kunio Yoshikawa + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en12224390

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Abstract

Thirteen types of fuel pellets were prepared from hydrothermally treated hospital solid waste, hydrothermally treated rice straw, pyrolytic plastic waste residue, rice straw, and Sakhalin fir residue using a flat die pellet machine. Different pellet properties such as pellet density, pellet durability, aspect ratio, physicochemical characteristics, and gross calorific value (GCV) were evaluated as well as compared concerning the European standard specification for residential/commercial densified fuels. In addition, the quality of pellets was compared with coal. The results showed that the pellets made only with hydrothermally treated hospital solid waste, hydrothermally treated rice straw, pyrolytic plastic waste residue, and rice straw failed to meet few individual criteria (<3 wt% ash content, <10 wt% moisture content, <0.03 wt% chlorine content, >96.5 wt% pellet durability, and >600 kg/m3 pellet density) of the European standard specifications. However, most of the mixed fuel pellets satisfied the requirement of pellet properties according to the European standard specification. In particular, up to 16.70 wt% hydrothermally treated rice straw, 1.50 wt% hydrothermally treated hospital solid waste, and 4.76 wt% of pyrolytic plastic waste residue can be blended with Shakhalin fir residue to produce low-chlorine fuel pellets. The gross calorific value of pellets made from the mixture of hydrothermally treated wastes and pyrolytic plastic waste residue (around 22 MJ/kg) showed similar results to that of coal. In the case of mixed pellets, the presence of these hydrothermally treated wastes and pyrolytic plastic waste residue valorized the fuel pellet quality. The main outcome of this study was the production of low chlorine biomass fuel pellets of high gross calorific values blended with hydrothermally treated wastes and pyrolytic waste residues, which opens a new door for utilizing waste in a better way, especially hospital solid waste.

Highlights

The progress of human civilization is heavily dependent on energy production for generating electricity, as well as for thermal applications [1]
After preparing the fuel pellets, the properties of these pellets were assessed in terms of pellet strength, pellet density, pellet durability, aspect ratio, ash content, qualities were compared with the European standard specification and coal
About 6 kg feedstock was qualities were compared with the European standard specification and coal

Summary

Introduction

The progress of human civilization is heavily dependent on energy production for generating electricity, as well as for thermal applications [1] Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas have been used irresponsibly to produce energy over the years [2]. The use of pellet-fueled energy systems presents possibilities in terms of avoiding or reducing the effects of climate change because pellet-heating systems do not contribute to ozone depletion and comply with the air emission standards stipulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and Kyoto Accords [13] Another environmentally friendly aspect of biomass pellets is that the energy needed to produce these materials is considerably lower than that required to produce other forms of energy [14]. Pelletizing is applied primarily to improve fuel characteristics, combustion properties, handling, transportation, and storage [16]

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