Co-combustion performance study of sewage sludge and rice straw based on M-DAEM

Yaokun Zhang, Zhanshi Ni, Hengzhi Ni, Xiang Liu, Junjian Tian, Liqun He, Qizhao Lin, Kesheng Meng and Qianfeng Yu

Energy, 2025, vol. 335, issue C

Abstract: Co-combustion of sewage sludge (SS) and biomass, such as rice straw (RS), provides a sustainable pathway for waste valorization and renewable energy generation. This study investigated the co-combustion behavior, interaction mechanisms, reaction kinetics, and nitrogenous gas evolution of SS and RS using TG–FTIR–MS techniques. The addition of RS significantly enhanced co-combustion performance, with the combustion and flame stability indices increasing by 19.79 and 8.69 times, respectively, at the optimal SS/RS ratio of 1:3. Interaction analysis revealed that RS addition promoted the release of volatile substances. A novel multi-Gaussian distributed activation energy model (M-DAEM), integrated with a differential evolutionary algorithm, was proposed to better describe the complex multi-stage kinetics. Results indicated that RS significantly reduced the activation energy, especially during the volatile decomposition stage. FTIR–MS analysis showed that RS addition reduced NOx emissions by suppressing precursor formation (HNCO, NH3) and facilitating CO2 and alkali-metal-mediated NO reduction. This work offers new insights into the dynamic mechanisms of SS/RS co-combustion and provides theoretical guidance for its application in clean energy recovery systems.

Keywords: Sewage sludge; Co-combustion characteristics; Interaction mechanisms; Kinetic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225034334

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137791

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