Numerical and experimental analysis of pyrolysis process of RDF containing a high percentage of plastic waste.

The current COVID-19 pandemic situation and the associated restrictions have increased the amount of generated waste. It results from the necessity to wear personal protective equipment. Thus, the disposal of masks and gloves is a topical issue and requires immediate investigation. The main aims of this work are management and environmental studies of municipal solid wastes (MSW), which have been generated during the COVID-19 pandemic time. Effective waste management in relation to a circular economy is presented. A sample of refuse derived fuel (RDF) with a high content of plastics was used for the experimental and calculation studies. Pyrolysis was selected as the best thermal decomposition process for this kind of wastes. Proximate and ultimate analyses were performed for RDF and its products. Pyrolysis was carried out using a pilot-scale reactor with a continuous flow of 250 kg/h at 900 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis was applied during the pyrolysis investigation and showed that the main decomposition of RDF took place in the temperature range of 250-500 °C. The pyrolysis gas contained combustible compounds like CO (19.8%), H2 (13.2%), CH4 (18.9%) and C2H4 (7.1%), giving a high calorific value - 24.4 MJ/m3. The experimental results were implemented for numerical calculations. Chemkin-Pro software was applied to predict the chemical composition of the pyrolysis gas. The performed computer simulations demonstrated very good agreement with the results obtained during the experiments. They also indicated that there is a strong relationship between the chemical composition of the pyrolysis gas, the process temperature and residence time in the reactor.

Combustion and kinetic parameters estimation of torrefied pine, acacia and Miscanthus giganteus using experimental and modelling techniques.

A novel approach, linking both experiments and modelling, was applied to obtain a better understanding of combustion characteristics of torrefied biomass. Therefore, Pine, Acacia and Miscanthus giganteus have been investigated under 260°C, 1h residence time and argon atmosphere. A higher heating value and carbon content corresponding to a higher fixed carbon, lower volatile matter, moisture content, and ratio O/C were obtained for all torrefied biomass. TGA analysis was used in order to proceed with the kinetics study and Chemkin calculations. The kinetics analysis demonstrated that the torrefaction process led to a decrease in Ea compared to raw biomass. The average Ea of pine using the KAS method changed from 169.42 to 122.88kJ/mol. The changes in gaseous products of combustion were calculated by Chemkin, which corresponded with the TGA results. The general conclusion based on these investigations is that torrefaction improves the physical and chemical properties of biomass.

Effective methods of reduction of nitrogen oxides concentration during the natural gas combustion.

This paper contains experimental research of NOx reduction in the combustion process with the primary methods, which were applied separately and in combined systems. In addition, the pulsation disturbance (PD) was applied, that is the gas stream was disturbed to increase the intensity of reagents mixing. An experimental stand was built to determine an influence of the following primary methods: air staging, reburning and flue gas recirculation on a reduction of NOx concentration. Experiments were carried out in three combinations: air staging with reburning, reburning with recirculation and air staging with recirculation. In all these cases, the PD was simultaneously applied. Researches were carried out in a quartz combustion chamber with laboratory equipment enabled to measure all the thermal and the chemical parameters of the process. The simultaneous application of primary methods causes additional increase in NOx reduction in certain systems.