Pyrolysis of Solid Waste for Bio-Oil and Char Production in Refugees’ Camp: A Case Study

Abstract

The current research focuses on assessing the potential of municipal solid waste (MSW) conversion into biofuel using pyrolysis process. The MSW samples were taken from Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp. The physical and chemical characteristics of MSW were studied using proximate and elemental analysis. The results showed that moisture content of MSW is 32.3%, volatile matter (VM) is 67.99%, fixed carbon (FC) content is 5.46%, and ash content is 24.33%. The chemical analysis was conducted using CHNS analyzer and found that the percentage of elements contents: 46% Carbon (C) content, 12% Hydrogen (H2), 2% Nitrogen (N2), 44% Oxygen (O2), and higher heat value (HHV) is 26.14 MJ/kg. The MSW pyrolysis was conducted using tubular fluidized bed reactor (FBR) under inert gas (Nitrogen) at 500 °C with 20 °C/min heating rate and using average particles size 5–10 mm. The products of MSW pyrolysis reaction were: pyrolytic liquid, solid char, and gaseous mixture. The pyrolytic oil and residual char were analyzed using Elemental Analyzer and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results of FTIR showed that oil product has considerable amounts of alkenes, alkanes, and carbonyl groups due to high organic compounds contents in MSW. The elemental analysis results showed that oil product content consists of 55% C, 37% O2, and the HHV is 20.8 MJ/kg. The elemental analysis of biochar showed that biochar content consists of 47% C, 49% O2, and HHV is 11.5 MJ/kg. Further research is recommended to study the effects of parameters as reactor types and operating conditions to assess the feasibility of MSW pyrolysis, in addition to the environmental impact study which is necessary to identify and predict the relevant environmental effects of this process.

Inapt management of menstrual hygiene waste (MHW): An urgent global environmental and public health challenge in developed and developing countries

“…Then this may be also considered for refugees' camps, but with some restrictions: this waste must be separately collected, and the treatments plants should be localized in the camp's proximity (to avoid long distances transport). Another possibility, mainly during the pandemic, may be the use of incineration or pyrolysis ( Aldayyat et al., 2021 ), which allows to reduce the volume and improve the safety of MHW ( Ducoli et al., 2021 ), resulting in more sustainable if compared to landfill ( Blair et al., 2022 ). This procedure has already been promoted in India, where the amount of this MHW is significantly high (about 113,000 tons annually) ( Sasidaran et al., 2021 ).…”

Physical-Chemical Characterization of Different Carbon-Based Sorbents for Environmental Applications

“…The CHNOS elemental analyzer determines the percentage content of total hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and sulfur (S) using acetanilide as an internal standard [ 94 ], and oxygen content (O) was calculated by the difference. The quantities of C, H, N, and S were determined simultaneously by a gas chromatograph during the combustion of the samples [ 95 , 96 ], while the presence of O was assessed later by pyrolysis.…”

Thermal degradation of emerging pollutants in municipal solid wastes and agro wastes: effectiveness of catalysts and pretreatment for the conversion of value added products

“…Furthermore, the peaks at 1162.8 cm −1 and 770.7 cm −1 show aliphatic amines (C−N) and aromatic ring alkanes in the oil. Overall, the FTIR analysis of the MSW oil shows the presence of alkanes, alkenes, and carbonyl groups in MSW pyrolysis oil, due to the high organic content of the feedstock [85]. While analyzing SR pyrolysis oil, alcohols and phenols (O−H) were identified by the broad peak that appeared at 3486.3 cm −1 [86].…”