Single particle refuse-derived fuel devolatilization: experimental measurements of reaction products

The authors present experimentally measured devolatilization product yields from single particles of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), a more uniform, transportable municipal solid waste. Disposal costs and environmental concerns have stimulated interest in thermochemical conversion of this material to chemicals and fuels. The composition, reaction conditions, and particle properties were systematically varied over the range found in practice to develop quantitative measures that rank the process controllables' influence on altering the product slate. Specialized regression methods and experimental designs enhanced the accuracy in view of the feed heterogeneity and offer a general method to extract real effects from experimental and sample noise''. The results have been verified successfully using actual commercial RDF and fabricated compositions that surpass those normally found in municipal waste to anticipate the influence of trends in recycling. The results show that the reaction conditions have a greater influence on altering fuel utilization and the relative yields of char, condensibles, and gases than does the composition over the range found in MSW and RDF.