Yaji Huang

Gasification characteristics of MSW and an ANN prediction model

Gasification characteristics make up the important parts of municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification and melting technology. These characteristics are closely related to the composition of MSW, which alters with climates and seasons. It is important to find a practical way to predict gasification characteristics. In this paper, five typical kinds of organic components (wood, paper, kitchen garbage, plastic, and textile) and three representative types of simulated MSW are gasified in a fluidized-bed at 400-800 degrees C with the equivalence ratio (ER) in the range of 0.2-0.6. The lower heating value (LHV) of gas, gasification products, and gas yield are reported. The results indicate that gasification characteristics are different from sample to sample. Based on the experimental data, an artificial neural networks (ANN) model is developed to predict gasification characteristics. The training and validating relative errors are within +/-15% and +/-20%, respectively, and predicting relative errors of an industrial sample are below +/-25%. This indicates that it is acceptable to predict gasification characteristics via ANN model.

Experimental study on MSW gasification and melting technology.

In order to develop municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification and melting technology, two preliminary experiments and a principle integrated experiment were fulfilled respectively. The gasification characteristics of MSW were studied at 500-750 degrees C when equivalence ratio (ER) was 0.2-0.5 using a fluidized-bed gasifier. When temperature was 550-700 degrees C and ER was 0.2-0.4, low heat value (LHV) of syngas reaches 4000-12000 kJ/Nm3. The melting characteristics of fly ash were investigated at 1100-1460 degrees C using a fixed-bed furnace. It was proved that over 99.9% of dioxins could be decomposed and most heavy-metals could be solidified when temperature was 1100-1300 degrees C. The principle integrated experiment was carried out in a fluidized-bed gasification and swirl-melting system. MSW was gasified efficiently at 550-650 degrees C, swirl-melting furnace maintains at 1200-1300 degrees C stably and over 95% of fly ash could be caught by the swirl-melting furnace. The results provided much practical experience and basic data to develop MSW gasification and melting technology.

Effect of biomass addition on the surface and adsorption characterization of carbon-based adsorbents from sewage sludge

Sewage sludge with the additive corn cob was used as prescusor to prepare sludge-based carbon adsorbents by pyrolysis method. And then, the carbonizated products were activated with potassium hydroxide. The mixing ratio of the corn cob to sewage sludge was investigated. The surface area and pore size distribution, elemental composition, surface chemistry structure and the surface physical morphology were determined and compared. The results demonstrated that the addition of corn cob into the sewage sludge sample could effectively improve the surface area (from 287 to 591 m2/g) and the microporosity (from 5% to 48%) of the carbon based adsorbent, thus enhancing the adsorption behavior. The sulfur dioxide adsorption capacity was measured according to breakthrough test. It was found that the sulfur dioxide adsorption capacity of the adsorbents was obviously enhanced after the addition of the corn cob. It is presumed that not only highly porous adsorbents, but also a high metallic content of these materials are required to achieve good performances.

Theoretical investigation of lead vapor adsorption on kaolinite surfaces with DFT calculations.

Kaolinite can be used as the in-furnace sorbent/additive to adsorb lead (Pb) vapor at high temperature. In this paper, the adsorptions of Pb atom, PbO molecule and PbCl2 molecule on kaolinie surfaces were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Si surface is inert to Pb vapor adsorption while Al surfaces with dehydroxylation are active for the unsaturated Al atoms and the O atoms losing H atoms. The adsorption energy of PbO is much higher than that of Pb atom and PbCl2. Considering the energy barriers, it is easy for PbO and PbCl2 to adsorb on Al surfaces but difficult to escape. The high energy barriers of de-HCl process cause the difficulties of PbCl2 to form PbO·Al2O3·2SiO2 with kaolinite. Considering the inertia of Si atoms and the activity of Al atoms after dehydroxylation, calcination, acid/alkali treatment and some other treatment aiming at amorphous silica producing and Al activity enhancement can be used as the modification measures to improve the performance of kaolinite as the in-furnace metal capture sorbent.

Characteristic and mercury adsorption of activated carbon produced by CO2 of chicken waste

Preparation of activated carbon from chicken waste is a promising way to produce a useful adsorbent for Hg removal. A three-stage activation process (drying at 200 degrees C, pyrolysis in N2 atmosphere, followed by CO2 activation) was used for the production of activated samples. The effects of carbonization temperature (400-600 degrees C), activation temperature (700-900 degrees C), and activation time (1-2.5 h) on the physicochemical properties (weight-loss and BET surface) of the prepared carbon were investigated. Adsorptive removal of mercury from real flue gas onto activated carbon has been studied. The activated carbon from chicken waste has the same mercury capacity as commercial activated carbon (Darco LH) (Hg(v): 38.7% vs. 53.5%, Hg(0): 50.5% vs. 68.8%), although its surface area is around 10 times smaller, 89.5 m2/g vs. 862 m2/g. The low cost activated carbon can be produced from chicken waste, and the procedure is suitable.

Pyrolysis of high-ash sewage sludge in a circulating fluidized bed reactor for production of liquids rich in heterocyclic nitrogenated compounds

A circulating fluidized bed reactor was used for pyrolyzing sewage sludge with a high ash content to produce liquids rich in heterocyclic nitrogenated compounds. GC/MS and FTIR analyses showed that heterocyclic nitrogenated compounds and hydrocarbons made up 38.5-61.21% and 2.24-17.48% of the pyrolysis liquids, respectively. A fluidized gas velocity of 1.13 m/s, a sludge feed rate of 10.78 kg/h and a particle size of 1-2mm promoted heterocyclic nitrogenated compound production. Utilizing heterocyclic nitrogenated compounds as chemical feedstock could be a way for offsetting the cost of sewage sludge treatment.

Flow Behaviors in a High-Flux Circulating Fluidized Bed

A high-flux circulating fluidized bed coal gasifier cold model which consists of a vertical riser (0.06m-I.D.×5m-high), two downcomers (0.04m-I.D.×3.5m-high and 0.1m-I.D.×3m-high), an inertial separator, a cyclone and two solid feeding devices were established. Geldart group B particles with mean diameters of 140 ?m and densities of 2700 kg/m3 were used as bed materials. Flow behaviors were investigated with the solid mass flux ranges from 108 to 395 kg/m2 and the superficial gas velocity ranges from 7.6 to 10.2 m/s. The pressure drop, apparent solids holdups, average slip velocity and solids-to-air mass flow ratio under different operating conditions were obtained. The results showed that the riser total pressure drop increased sharply with bed height in the low elevation but slowly in the high elevation, since the solids holdup was higher in the low region than that in the high region. The solids holdup increased with the increasing of solids mass flux while it decreased with increasing superficial gas velocity. A dense suspension upflow flow (DSU) structure was found only existing in the low elevation while the rest upper region was still in the dilute phase, and the length of DSU flow structure increased with solids mass flux. The average slip velocity was found to be the strong function of apparent solids holdup; increasing apparent solids holdup leads to the increase of slip velocity. The riser total pressure drop and apparent solids holdup increase with the solids-to-air mass flow ratio.

Effect of organic calcium compounds on combustion characteristics of rice husk, sewage sludge, and bituminous coal: thermogravimetric investigation.

Experiments were conducted in a thermogravimetric analyzer to assess the enhancement of combustion characteristics of different solid fuels blended with organic calcium compounds (OCCs). Rice husk, sewage sludge, and bituminous coal, and two OCC were used in this study. Effect of different mole ratios of calcium to sulfur (Ca/S ratio) on the combustion characteristics were also investigated. Results indicated that combustion performance indexes for bituminous coal impregnated by OCC were improved, however, an inverse trend was found for sewage sludge because sewage sludge has lower ignition temperature and higher volatile matter content compared to those of OCC. For rice husk, effect of added OCC on the combustion characteristics is not obvious. Different solid fuels show different combustion characteristics with increases of Ca/S ratio. The maximum combustion performance indexes appear at Ca/S ratios of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 for OCC blended with Shenhua coal, rice husk, and sewage sludge, respectively.

Effects of temperature and composite alumina on pyrolysis of sewage sludge

An interactive dual-circulating fluidized bed system has been proposed in which the pyrolysis of sewage sludge (SS) and incineration of biomass proceed simultaneously, and alumina is used as the bed material and heat carrier. The alumina coated with biomass ash would mix with sewage sludge in the pyrolysis reactor of this device. It is important to know the influence of composite alumina (CA) on the pyrolysis progress. Sewage sludge was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor from 400 to 600°C using CA as catalyst. The effects of temperature and CA additive ratio on the products were investigated. The product yields and component distribution of non-condensable gas were more sensitive to the change of temperature, and the maximum liquid yield of 48.44 wt.% and maximum Useable Energy of Liquid of 3871 kJ/kg sludge were observed at 500°C with 1/5 CA/SS (mass ratio). The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry results showed that the increase of temperature enhanced devolatilization of organic matter and promoted cyclization and aromatization of aliphatics. The presence of CA could strengthen secondary cracking and interaction among primary products from different organic compounds, such as acid-amine condensation, and reduce the content of oxygenated compounds. When the CA additive amount exceeded a certain proportion, the aromatization was clearly strengthened. The effects of CA on decomposition of fatty acids and formation of aromatics were similar to that of temperature. This means that the reaction temperature could be lowered by introducing CA, which has a positive effect on reducing energy consumption.

Coal Gasification Characteristics in a 2MWth Second-Generation PFB Gasifier

Coal gasification process and equipment feasibility research were carried out in a 2 MW thermal input pressurized spout-fluid bed pilot-scale gasifier and a long-time-run test was performed to study the effects of operating parameters on coal partial gasification behaviors. The test results have demonstrated the feasibility of the gasifier to provide suitable fuel gas and residual char for downstream system of 2G PFBC-CC. The concentration of methane decreased at higher gasification temperature due to the secondary cracking of methane while the carbon conversion increased, and the concentration of hydrogen increased with an increase of steam flow rate. The main experimental results were compared with those of pilot-scale facilities in the world.© 2005 ASME