TY - THES

T1 - Steam treatment of SRF and its impact on contaminant concentration and fuel properties

AU - Golnahali, Ali

N1 - no embargo

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Global warming is a major environmental challenge that humankind is facing today. The Kyoto Protocol aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and promote the use of renewable energy. It also encourages collaboration between developed and developing countries using clean development mechanisms. Municipal solid waste disposal and management is a major issue faced by urban communities worldwide. To address this, various sophisticated technologies and strategies have been employed. Cities across the globe have taken several steps to reduce the environmental impact of MSW treatment strategies, and thermal treatment. The energy recovery is one of the most effective ways to extract clean, renewable energy from waste. Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) derived from both household and industrial waste has high potential as an alternative fuel source to aid in the worldwide effort to combat global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Due to European Union regulations that prohibit the disposal of waste with a calorific value higher than 6 MJ/kg in landfills also support the production of SRF. With increasing energy demands, SRF can serve as an alternative fuel source with high energy producing potentials. If no improvements are made in the sector, waste-related emissions are expected to increase to 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by the year 2050. Using an alternative fuel like SRF in the manufacturing industry, especially industrial products that contain pollutants. This applies in particular to chlorine and heavy metals. The aim of the current study was to analyze SRF samples through steam treatment, with a particular focus on the presence of chlorine in the samples before and after treatment. Achieving low chlorine concentrations in SRF is a significant goal for the cement industry, as high levels of chlorine can have negative effects on cement quality. The presence of chlorine during the clinker burning process can lead to the volatilization of chlorides in hot zones, which can then condense in cooler zones and cause the formation of chlorine deposits and undesirable chlorine cycles. These issues can impair the clinker burning process and ultimately result in a lower quality of cement. Therefore, it is important for the cement industry to carefully monitor and control the chlorine content in SRF to ensure the production of high-quality cement. Waste materials often contain chlorine, which can noticeably affect the effectiveness and environmental consequences of waste-to-energy procedures. Hence, this study focused on the steam treatment of SRF samples, with a particular focus on the presence of chlorine and heavy metals in the samples before and after treatment to assess the effect of the treatment on chlorine and heavy metal contents. This study investigated the impact of steam treatment on the chlorine removal from SRF sample. Despite the absence of additional chlorine introduction, an increase in chlorine content was observed. The findings suggest a high fluctuation of chlorine content in SRF, which points to the need for more comprehensive experiments to obtain consistent results. Overall, this study highlights the importance of careful sample handling and suggests further investigation to enhance our understanding of chlorine concentration in SRF. Finally, the results of the experiments indicate that the steam treatment process was ineffective in removing chlorine from two categories of experiments: those involving solely washed SRF, and those involving washed SRF with PVC.

AB - Global warming is a major environmental challenge that humankind is facing today. The Kyoto Protocol aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and promote the use of renewable energy. It also encourages collaboration between developed and developing countries using clean development mechanisms. Municipal solid waste disposal and management is a major issue faced by urban communities worldwide. To address this, various sophisticated technologies and strategies have been employed. Cities across the globe have taken several steps to reduce the environmental impact of MSW treatment strategies, and thermal treatment. The energy recovery is one of the most effective ways to extract clean, renewable energy from waste. Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) derived from both household and industrial waste has high potential as an alternative fuel source to aid in the worldwide effort to combat global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Due to European Union regulations that prohibit the disposal of waste with a calorific value higher than 6 MJ/kg in landfills also support the production of SRF. With increasing energy demands, SRF can serve as an alternative fuel source with high energy producing potentials. If no improvements are made in the sector, waste-related emissions are expected to increase to 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by the year 2050. Using an alternative fuel like SRF in the manufacturing industry, especially industrial products that contain pollutants. This applies in particular to chlorine and heavy metals. The aim of the current study was to analyze SRF samples through steam treatment, with a particular focus on the presence of chlorine in the samples before and after treatment. Achieving low chlorine concentrations in SRF is a significant goal for the cement industry, as high levels of chlorine can have negative effects on cement quality. The presence of chlorine during the clinker burning process can lead to the volatilization of chlorides in hot zones, which can then condense in cooler zones and cause the formation of chlorine deposits and undesirable chlorine cycles. These issues can impair the clinker burning process and ultimately result in a lower quality of cement. Therefore, it is important for the cement industry to carefully monitor and control the chlorine content in SRF to ensure the production of high-quality cement. Waste materials often contain chlorine, which can noticeably affect the effectiveness and environmental consequences of waste-to-energy procedures. Hence, this study focused on the steam treatment of SRF samples, with a particular focus on the presence of chlorine and heavy metals in the samples before and after treatment to assess the effect of the treatment on chlorine and heavy metal contents. This study investigated the impact of steam treatment on the chlorine removal from SRF sample. Despite the absence of additional chlorine introduction, an increase in chlorine content was observed. The findings suggest a high fluctuation of chlorine content in SRF, which points to the need for more comprehensive experiments to obtain consistent results. Overall, this study highlights the importance of careful sample handling and suggests further investigation to enhance our understanding of chlorine concentration in SRF. Finally, the results of the experiments indicate that the steam treatment process was ineffective in removing chlorine from two categories of experiments: those involving solely washed SRF, and those involving washed SRF with PVC.

KW - Siedlungsabfälle

KW - Ersatzbrennstoffe

KW - Polyvinyl Chlorid

KW - Chlor

KW - Abfallbehandlung

KW - Municipal Solid Waste

KW - Solid Recovered Fuel

KW - Polyvinyl Chloride

KW - Chlorine

KW - Waste Treatment

U2 - 10.34901/mul.pub.2023.247

DO - 10.34901/mul.pub.2023.247

M3 - Master's Thesis

ER -