Effect of temperature in RDF pyrolysis

Abstract

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is a solid fuel made after basic processing steps or techniques that increase the calorific value of municipal solid waste (MSW). Therefore, energy production from RDF can provide economic and environmental benefits, as reduces the amount of wastes sent to landfill and allows the energy recovery from a renewable source. In this work, it was studied the effect of temperature in RDF pyrolysis collected in a Portuguese company in gas production, gas composition and mass conversion. The effect of reaction temperature was studied at 450, 600 and 750°C. Results showed that, for the same operational conditions, pyrolysis was more efficient at 750ºC. At this temperature, it was obtained a syngas of 11.2 MJ/m3 and a specific gas production of 0.43 m3syngas/kg RDF. Results also proved that the increasing of temperature in pyrolysis reaction enhanced methane production and decreased carbon dioxide concentration in syngas.