Dwindling fossil fuels and improper waste management are major challenges in the context of increasing population and industrialization, calling for new waste-to-energy sources. For instance, refuse-derived fuels can be produced from transformation of municipal solid waste, which is forecasted to reach 2.6 billion metric tonnes in 2030. Gasification is a thermal-induced chemical reaction that produces gaseous fuel such as hydrogen and syngas. Here, we review refuse-derived fuel gasification with focus on practices in various countries, recent progress in gasification, gasification modelling and economic analysis. We found that some countries that replace coal by refuse-derived fuel reduce CO2 emission by 40%, and decrease the amount municipal solid waste being sent to landfill by more than 50%. The production cost of energy via refuse-derived fuel gasification is estimated at 0.05 USD/kWh. Co-gasification by using two feedstocks appears more beneficial over conventional gasification in terms of minimum tar formation and improved process efficiency.

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Gasification of refuse-derived fuel from municipal solid waste for energy production: a review.

Simulation of biomass gasification in bubbling fluidized bed reactor using aspen plus

Synergistic effects of co-gasification of municipal solid waste and biomass in fixed-bed gasifier

Carbon gasification in molten alkali carbonate salts over CO2 is a process to produce gaseous fuels with mitigating the greenhouse effect. Alkali carbonate salts can facilitate Boudouard reaction, which is difficult to occur even at high reaction temperature if the catalyst is absent. Alkali carbonate allows easily carbon−CO2 contact by changing the reaction interface from gas-solid to gas-liquid. This review focused on CO2 utilization for alkali carbonate gasification and biomass/coal co-gasification. CO2 gasification of biomass and coal with the alkali carbonate salts enhances the carbon conversion rate and CO yield. Furthermore, alkali carbonate salts gasification of biomass and coal could reduce reaction temperature, activation energy, and tar formation in the product gas. The factors that influence the carbon conversion rate were discussed, such as reaction temperature, CO2 concentration, alkali carbonate addition, and char feeding mode. On the other hand, blending coal with biomass is considered as potential fuel base for CO2 co-gasification and displays an advantage for improving the coal char reactivity. The alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) present in biomass ash acted as a natural catalyst to increase the coal reactivity and CO production. The catalytic effect in the co-gasification enhances by raising the percentage of biomass in the blend. In contrast, the inhibiting effect in co-gasification could be attributed to silica and alumina reactions with AAEMs to form aluminosilicates complexes.

A.M.A. Tavares

Papers

Co-gasification of refused derived fuel and biomass in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor