The Emission Characteristic of PAHs During Coal and Sewage Sludge Co-combustion in a Drop Tube Furnace

Abstract

The emission characteristic of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) during coal and sewage sludge co-combustion was performed in a laboratory-scale drop tube furnace. The experimental results demonstrated that the mass percentage of sewage sludge had an important impact on PAHs emission during coal and sewage sludge co-combustion. In generally, the two-ring and five-ring PAHs concentrations decrease as the mass percentage of sewage sludge increase from 0 to 100%. Moreover, it was also found that PAHs from sewage sludge mono-combustion was dominated by the three-ring and four-ring PAHs. As for the coal mono-combustion, the four-ring and five-ring PAHs was the principal components. Meanwhile, the five-rings PAHs was the main contribution for the toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentration during coal and sewage sludge co-combustion. The experiment results also indicated that coal and sewage sludge co-combustion was beneficial to suppress the PAHs TEQ concentration.