Torrefaction of organic municipal solid waste to high calorific value solid fuel using batch reactor with helical screw induced rotation

Kabir Abogunde Abdulyekeen; Wan Mohd Ashri Wan Daud; Muhamad Fazly Abdul Patah; Faisal Abnisa

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127974

Torrefaction of organic municipal solid waste to high calorific value solid fuel using batch reactor with helical screw induced rotation

Bioresour Technol. 2022 Nov:363:127974. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127974. Epub 2022 Sep 16.

Authors

Kabir Abogunde Abdulyekeen¹, Wan Mohd Ashri Wan Daud², Muhamad Fazly Abdul Patah³, Faisal Abnisa⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Engineering Technology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi P.M.B 0248, Nigeria.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. Electronic address: ashri@um.edu.my.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 36122850
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127974

Abstract

The potential of producing high calorific value (CV) solid fuel was investigated in a helical screw rotation-induced (HSRI) fluidized bed reactor based on mechanical fluidization. The study revealed that the HSRI torrefaction improved the torrefied product properties. For the 40 and 0 rpm conditions, the CV, fixed carbon, and ash contents of torrefied solid fuel increased with an increase in temperature. In contrast, volatile matter, moisture content, mass and energy yields decreased. The CV of torrefied solid fuel increased by a factor of 1.43 and 1.58 at 280 °C for the 40 and 0 rpm conditions, respectively. HSRI torrefaction enhanced the removal of hydroxyl functional group. HSRI torrefaction improved the hydrophobicity of the torrefied solid fuel. Therefore, the HSRI fluidized bed reactor promotes uniform temperature distribution, a higher heat transfer rate within the sample particles in the reactor, and a homogenous torrefied solid product compared to the fixed bed reactor.

Keywords: Calorific value; Helical screw fluidized bed reactor; Mechanical fluidization technology; Municipal solid waste; Torrefaction; Waste valorization.