Investigation of the combustion characteristics of municipal solid wastes and their hydrothermally treated products via thermogravimetric analysis

This study investigated the hydrothermal treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) for renewable solid fuel production. The properties of surrogate MSWs were greatly improved by hydrothermal treatment and were similar to those of coal-like fuel substances. These included increases in high heating value, fixed carbon, and carbon content. Furthermore, the combustion behavior of MSWs was studied to clarify the effects of hydrothermal treatment on the combustion behavior of treated MSWs. The treated MSWs were then compared to several types of coal, focusing on the combustion characteristics before and after hydrothermal treatment, by use of a thermogravimetric analyzer. After the hydrothermal treatment, the treated MSWs showed two combustion peaks corresponding to volatile release and char combustion, due to an increase of the fixed carbon. The char burn temperature, resulting in the second burning peak region of the treated MSW, was similar to that of Australian coal. The combustion behavior of MSW following hydrothermal treatment suggests that the MSWs were made more similar to coal during this process.