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

Ebtihal A. AlDayyat, Motasem N. Saidan, Zayed Al-Hamamre, Mohammad Al-Addous and Malek Alkasrawi
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Ebtihal A. AlDayyat: Chemical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Motasem N. Saidan: Chemical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Zayed Al-Hamamre: Chemical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Mohammad Al-Addous: Energy Engineering Department, School of Natural Resources Engineering and Management, German Jordanian University, P.O. Box 35247, Amman 11180, Jordan
Malek Alkasrawi: Department of PS and Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-11

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 (H 2 ), 2% Nitrogen (N 2 ), 44% Oxygen (O 2 ), 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% O 2 , and the HHV is 20.8 MJ/kg. The elemental analysis of biochar showed that biochar content consists of 47% C, 49% O 2 , 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.

Keywords: MSW; pyrolysis; bio-oil; char; refugee camp; Jordan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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