Thermal Decomposition Behavior during Combustion of Hydrothermally Treated MSW by Thermogravimetric Analysis

This research is intended to study fuel property and thermal decomposition behavior of hydrothermally treated municipal solid waste (HTT-MSW) during combustion. In the experiment, simulated MSW was used as a raw material (Raw-MSW) to produce solid biofuels at the hydrothermal reaction temperature of 180, 200, and 220 degrees C for 30 min by a lab-scale autoclave. The results showed that the higher reaction temperature in the experiment increased the heating value of the product. Before the HTT process, the Raw-MSW has 20 MJ/kg of heating value, after processed, the energy density was increased to 21.8, 26.4, 31.4 MJ/kg for 180 to 220 degrees C respectively. From thermogravimetric analysis result (TGA), mass loss profile of Raw-MSW and HTT-MSW showed two major decomposition peaks and the effect of HTT on combustion was that the decomposition profile became smoother. From kinetics study on non-isothermal thermogravimetric data, the activation energy (E) of HTT-MSW was higher than that of the Raw-MSW and the E values were around 35 to 80 kJ/mol for the Raw-MSW and HTT-MSW. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.