Yan Jh

Experimental studies on municipal solid waste pyrolysis in a laboratory-scale rotary kiln

A laboratory-scale, externally heated, rotary-kiln pyrolyser was designed and built. Pyrolysis tests were performed. Solid wastes (paper, paperboard, waste plastics including PVC and PE, rubber, vegetal materials, wood, and orange husk) were tested. The effects of heating methods, moisture contents and size of waste on pyrolysis gas yields and compositions, as well as heating values, were evaluated.

Pyrolysis of solid waste in a rotary kiln: influence of final pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis products

Temperature is one of the most important parameters in pyrolysis reaction. In present work, an externally heated laboratory-scale rotary-kiln pyrolyser was designed and developed. The influence of final pyrolysis temperature (FPT) on the pyrolytic products of solid wastes has been studied. Raising FPT caused increasing gas yield and decreasing semi-coke yield. The average heat value of the gas also changed with FPT. The content of aliphatic hydrocarbons in PE tar increased initially and then decreased with increasing FPT. Parallel to this, the content of aromatic ring changed conversely. FPT had obvious influence on the primary and elemental analysis data of the semi-cokes. The CO2 reactivity of the semi-cokes also varied with the FPT. The kinetic parameters of the semi-cokes were different for the same material at the different FPT.

Axial transport and residence time of MSW in rotary kilns: Part I. Experimental

Abstract Experiments on the influences of operational variables on the axial transport of both heterogeneous municipal solid waste (MSW) and homogenous sand are conducted in a continuous lab-scale rotary kiln cold simulator. Compared with sand, the residence time of MSW has a relatively large discrepancy with the ideal normal distribution due to the trajectory segregation of MSW components. The residence time at different axial zone is quite different due to the varied bed depth profile along the kiln length. MSW has a longer mean residence time (MRT) and a lower material volumetric flow (MVF) than sand because of the higher θd than sand. The increment of both rotating speed and kiln slope reduces MRT, and increases MVF. Exit dam has a significant impact on the MRT and the influence of internal structure group consisting of various axial ribs and circular ribs is mainly determined by the height of circular ribs. Inside wall roughness also has effect on MRT through changing the bed regimes. For a case with the certain inlet and exit bed depths, the product of MRT and MVF holds at a constant within the limits of experimental errors in spite of the changing experimental variables.

Analysis of volatile species kinetics during typical medical waste materials pyrolysis using a distributed activation energy model.

The complex reactions of typical medical waste materials pyrolysis and the evolution of different volatile species can be well represented by a Distributed Activation Energy Model (DAEM). In this study, A thermogravimetric analyser (TGA), coupled with Fourier transform infrared analysis of evolving products (TG-FTIR), were used to perform kinetic analysis of typical medical waste materials pyrolysis. A simple direct search method was used for the determination of DAEM kinetic parameters and the yield of individual pyrolysis products under any given heating condition. The agreement between the model prediction and the experimental data was generally good. The results can be used as inputs to a pyrolysis model based on first-order kinetic expression with a Gaussian Distribution of Activation Energies as a sub-model to CFD code.

Degradation of gas–liquid gliding arc discharge on Acid Orange II

The effects of pH value, initial concentration of dye solution and temperature on the degradation efficiency of Acid Orange II (AO7) using gas-liquid gliding arc discharge were investigated. The influences of pH value and temperature on degradation efficiency were not apparent. Increasing initial solution concentration caused the decrease of degradation rate and the increase of absolute degradation quantity. Considering energy efficiency and absolute degradation quantity, the gas-liquid gliding arc discharge is fit for treating high concentration organic wastewater. A possible mineralization pathway was proposed through the analysis of intermediate products detected by gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS) and ion chromatograph (IC). Hydroxyl radicals reacted with the azo linkage-bearing carbon of a hydroxy-substituted ring, leading to the cleavage of -C-N- and degradation of AO7. The solution biodegradability was significantly improved (BOD(5)/COD from 0.02 to 0.43). The toxicity of intermediate products was lower than that of the initial Acid Orange II.

Axial transport and residence time of MSW in rotary kilns: Part II. Theoretical and optimal analyses

Abstract A novel particulate trajectory model (PTM) is developed to predict axial transport and dispersion of municipal solid wastes (MSW), based on the vector analysis on particles gravity-induced axial displacement in a single excursion. Three parts of work are extended with respect to this PTM. First, the simplified formulas about mean residence time (MRT) and material volumetric flow (MVF) are derived by incorporating statistic-averaged analysis on all repeated excursions of solids within kiln into PTM. The correctional factors—et for MRT and ef for MVF—are introduced to improve the models validity under such practical cases, i.e. irregular MSW existence or internal-structure presence. Reasonable agreement is obtained between the empirical formulas and experiments with correlation factor in excess of 90% for all runs. Second, a stochastic PTM is extended to predict the residence time distribution (RTD) curves of segregated MSW by considering the probability of the rolling distance of individual particle. As for MSW, the main cause of axial dispersion is the segregation of rolling distance of solids, due to variation of MSW components, shapes and sizes. Finally, the optimization model for geometry design of a laboratory-scale rotary kiln pyrolyser of MSW is presented and the corresponding optimum solutions are provided.

Dynamic and spectroscopic characteristics of atmospheric gliding arc in gas-liquid two-phase flow

In this study, an atmospheric alternating-current gliding arc device in gas-liquid two-phase flow has been developed for the purpose of waste water degradation. The dynamic behavior of the gas-liquid gliding arc is investigated through the oscillations of electrical signals, while the spatial evolution of the arc column is analyzed by high speed photography. Different arc breakdown regimes are reported, and the restrike mode is identified as the typical fluctuation characteristic of the hybrid gliding arc in air-water mixture. Optical emission spectroscopy is employed to investigate the active species generated in the gas-liquid plasma. The axial evolution of the OH (309 nm) intensity is determined, while the rotational and vibrational temperatures of the OH are obtained by a comparison between the experimental and simulated spectra. The significant discrepancy between the rotational and translational temperatures has also been discussed.

Characterization of an atmospheric double arc argon-nitrogen plasma source

In the framework of studies devoted to hazardous waste destruction, an original dc double anode plasma torch has been designed and tested, which produces an elongated, weak fluctuation and reproducible plasma jet at atmospheric pressure. The arc instabilities and dynamic behavior of the double arc argon-nitrogen plasma jet are investigated through the oscillations of electrical signals by combined means of fast Fourier transform and Wigner distribution. In our experiment, the restrike mode is identified as the typical fluctuation behavior in an argon-nitrogen plasma jet. The Fourier spectra and Wigner distributions exhibit two characteristic frequencies of 150 Hz and 4.1 kHz, which reveals that the nature of fluctuations in the double arc argon-nitrogen plasma can be ascribed to the undulation of the power supply and both arc roots motion on the anode channels. In addition, the microscopic properties of the plasma jet inside and outside the arc chamber are investigated by means of optical emission spectro...

Electrical and spectroscopic diagnostic of an atmospheric double arc argon plasma jet

An atmospheric argon plasma jet generated by an original dc double anode plasma torch has been investigated through its electrical and spectroscopic diagnostics. The arc instabilities and dynamic behavior of the argon plasma are analyzed using classical tools such as the statistical method, fast Fourier transform (FFT) and correlation function. The takeover mode is identified as the fluctuation characteristic of the double arc argon plasma jet in our experiment. The FFT and correlation analysis of electrical signals exhibit the only characteristic frequency of 150 Hz, which originates from the torch power and is independent of any change in the operating parameters. No high frequency fluctuations (1–15 kHz) are observed. This indicates that the nature of fluctuations in an argon plasma jet is induced mainly by the undulation of the tri-phase rectified power supply. It is found that each arc root attachment is diffused rather than located at a fixed position on the anode wall. Moreover, the emission spectroscopic technique is performed to determine the electron temperature and number density of the plasma jet inside and outside the arc chamber. Along the torch axis, the measured electron temperature and number density of the double arc argon plasma drop from 12 300 K and 7.6 × 10 22 m −3 at the divergent part of the first anode nozzle, to 10 500 K and 3.1 × 10 22 m −3 at the torch exit. In addition, the validity criteria of the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) state in the plasma arc are examined. The results show that the measured electron densities are in good agreement with those calculated from the LTE model, which indicates that the double arc argon plasma at atmospheric pressure is close to the LTE state under our experimental conditions. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Properties of pyrolytic chars and activated carbons derived from pilot-scale pyrolysis of used tires.

Abstract Used tires were pyrolyzed in a pilot-scale quasi-inert rotary kiln. Influences of variables, such as time, temperature, and agent flow, on the activation of obtained char were subsequently investigated in a laboratory-scale fixed bed. Meso-porous pores are found to be dominant in the pore structures of raw char. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surfaces of activated chars increased linearly with carbon burnoff. The carbon burnoff of tire char achieved by carbon dioxide (CO2) under otherwise identical conditions was on average 75% of that achieved by steam, but their BET surfaces are almost the same. The proper activation greatly improved the aqueous adsorption of raw char, especially for small molecular adsorbates, for example, phenol from 6 to 51 mg/g. With increasing burnoff, phenol adsorption exhibited a first-stage linear increase followed by a rapid drop after 30% burnoff. Similarly, iodine adsorption first increased linearly, but it held as the burnoff exceeded 40%, which implied that the reduction of iodine adsorption due to decreasing micro-pores was partially made up by increasing mesopores. Both raw chars and activated chars showed appreciable adsorption capacity of methylene-blue comparable with that of commercial carbons. Thus, tire-derived activated carbons can be used as an excellent mesoporous adsorbent for larger molecular species.