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Co-Combustion of Waste Tires and Plastic-Rubber Wastes with Biomass Technical and Environmental Analysis

Luís Carmo-Calado, Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez, Roberta Mota-Panizio, Bruno Guilherme-Garcia and Paulo Brito
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Luís Carmo-Calado: VALORIZA—Research Center for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez: Department of Graphic Engineering Design and Projects, Universidad de Jaen, 23071 Jaen, Spain
Roberta Mota-Panizio: MEtRICs—Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center, Department of Science and Technology of Biomass, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisbon, 2829-516 Lisbon, Portugal
Bruno Guilherme-Garcia: VALORIZA—Research Center for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Paulo Brito: VALORIZA—Research Center for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: The present work studies the possibility of energy recovery by thermal conversion of combustible residual materials, namely tires and rubber-plastic, plastic waste from outdoor luminaires. The waste has great potential for energy recovery (HHV: 38.6 MJ/kg for tires and 31.6 MJ/kg for plastic). Considering the thermal conversion difficulties of these residues, four co-combustion tests with mixtures of tires/plastics + pelletized Miscanthus, and an additional test with 100% Miscanthus were performed. The temperature was increased to the maximum allowed by the equipment, about 500 °C. The water temperature at the boiler outlet and the water flow were controlled (60 °C and 11 L/min). Different mixtures of residues (0–60% tires/plastics) were tested and compared in terms of power and gaseous emissions. Results indicate that energy production increased with the increase of tire residue in the mixture, reaching a maximum of 157 kW for 40% of miscanthus and 60% of tires. However, the automatic feeding difficulties of the boiler also increased, requiring constant operator intervention. As for plastic and rubber waste, fuel consumption generally decreased with increasing percentages of these materials in the blend, with temperatures ranging from 383 °C to 411 °C. Power also decreased by including such wastes (66–100 kW) due to feeding difficulties and cinder-fusing problems related to ash melting. From the study, it can be concluded that co-combustion is a suitable technology for the recovery of waste tires, but operational problems arise with high levels of residues in the mixture. Increasing pollutant emissions and the need for pre-treatments are other limiting factors. In this sense, the thermal gasification process was tested with the same residues and the same percentages of mixtures used in the co-combustion tests. The gasification tests were performed in a downdraft reactor at temperatures above 800 °C. Each test started with 100% acacia chip for reference (like the previous miscanthus), and then with mixtures of 0–60% of tires and blends of plastics and rubbers. Results obtained for the two residues demonstrated the viability of the technology, however, with mixtures higher than 40% it was very difficult to develop a process under stable conditions. The optimum condition for producing a synthesis gas with a substantial heating value occurred with mixtures of 20% of polymeric wastes, which resulted in gases with a calorific value of 3.64 MJ/Nm 3 for tires and 3.09 MJ/Nm 3 for plastics and rubbers.

Keywords: co-gasification; combustion; urban waste; tires wastes; plastics wastes; biomass; syngas; waste management; techno-economic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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