Thermochemical conversion of sewage sludge: A critical review

The fundamentals of pyrolysis, its latest developments, the different conditions of the process and its residues are of great importance in evaluating the applicability of the pyrolysis process within the waste management sector and in waste treatment. In particular the types of residue and their further use or treatment is of extreme interest as they could become the source of secondary raw materials or be used for energy generation in waste treatments. The main area of focus of this paper is the investigation of the link between the pyrolysis conditions, the chemical and mineralogical composition of their products and the benefits of pyrolysis in the waste management sector. More specifically the paper covers the fast, intermediate and slow pyrolysis of organic waste and mixtures of inorganic and organic waste from households. The influence of catalysts during fast pyrolysis on the product yield and composition is not being considered in this review.

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Potential of pyrolysis processes in the waste management sector

The USA, China and India are the top three producers of municipal solid waste. The composition of solid wastes varies with income: low-to-middle-income population generates mainly organic wastes, whereas high-income population produces more waste paper, metals and glasses. Management of municipal solid waste includes recycling, incineration, waste-to-energy conversion, composting or landfilling. Landfilling for solid waste disposal is preferred in many municipalities globally. Landfill sites act as ecological reactors where wastes undergo physical, chemical and biological transformations. Hence, critical factors for sustainable landfilling are landfill liners, the thickness of the soil cover, leachate collection, landfill gas recovery and flaring facilities. Here, we review the impact of landfill conditions such as construction, geometry, weather, temperature, moisture, pH, biodegradable matter and hydrogeological parameters on the generation of landfill gases and leachate. Bioreactor landfills appear as the next-generation sanitary landfills, because they augment solid waste stabilization in a time-efficient manner, as a result of controlled recirculation of leachate and gases. We discuss volume reduction, resource recovery, valorization of dumped wastes, environmental protection and site reclamation toward urban development. We present the classifications and engineered iterations of landfills, operations, mechanisms and mining.

Municipal solid waste management and landfilling technologies: a review

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass over zeolites for high quality bio-oil – A review

Yan Lin

Papers

A study on co-pyrolysis of bagasse and sewage sludge using TG-FTIR and Py-GC/MS

Combustion, pyrolysis and char CO2-gasification characteristics of hydrothermal carbonization solid fuel from municipal solid wastes

Co-pyrolysis kinetics of sewage sludge and oil shale thermal decomposition using TGA–FTIR analysis

Analysis of catalytic pyrolysis of municipal solid waste and paper sludge using TG-FTIR, Py-GC/MS and DAEM (distributed activation energy model)

Effects of additives on the co-pyrolysis of municipal solid waste and paper sludge by using thermogravimetric analysis.