Co-pyrolysis of municipal solid waste and municipal sewage sludge and characterization of liquid product

The reduction of the sent to landfill amount of municipal solid waste (MSWs) and municipal sewage sludges (SSs) is of great importance both for the circular economy concept, which has been on the agenda in recent years, and more careful management of MSW and SS. Pyrolysis method is one of the most suitable methods that can be utilized to treat these wastes together. In this study, it was evaluated to convert these wastes into useful products by co-pyrolyzing MSW and SS, and obtained liquid products were characterized. Samples were prepared by mixing different percentages (wt. 25-75%) from these wastes. The values of moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, and fixed carbon of prepared samples before the pyrolysis process were determined. The prepared samples were co-pyrolyzed at 400 degrees C. Elemental analysis (C, H, O, N, S), heating value measurement, FT-IR, and 1H-NMR analysis were carried out to make the characterization of the obtained liquid products after the co-pyrolysis process. According to analysis results, it was observed that M1 (25% of MSW and 75% of SS) showed the highest liquid yield. For all liquid products, it has been determined that most of the pyrolysis liquid products consist of aliphatic compounds. For sustainable municipal solid waste management, valorizing these wastes together instead of sending them to landfill sites, the co-pyrolysis process converts them to valuable products, it also might be considered an option contributing economic and environmental aspects.