Parametric Study on the Effect of Bulk Density, Moisture Content, and Type of Paper on the Combustion Behaviour of Paper in a Packed Bed Reactor
Author : Tulipan, Jaren Urriquia
Major Adviser : Bambase, Manolito E. Jr.
Committee Members : Dizon, Lisa Stephanie H.; Gatdula, Kristel M.
Year : 2020
Month : July
Type : Thesis
Degree: BS
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Abstract
Waste-to-energy technology is considered as an alternative to municipal solid waste (MSW) management. However, there is limited data in the Philippines on the use of MSW as fuel in waste-to-energy processes. Hence, this study investigated the combustion characteristics of paper waste which is one of the major components in MSW. Parametric study using a factorial design of experiment was conducted to study the effects of moisture content, bulk density of the packed bed, and paper type on the combustion behavior of paper. A laboratory-scale packed bed combustion reactor was used during experimentation with constant primary airflow and feed particle size. Based on proximate analysis, it was found out that wax-coated paper has 72% more ash and 7% more volatile combustible matter but 55% less fixed carbon compared to printing paper. The bed temperature data showed that using wax-coated paper as feed resulted to an average peak bed temperature of 850 °C while using printing paper resulted to an average of 918 °C. The ANOVA showed that moisture content has a dominant effect on the bed temperature. The flue gas composition data from the experiment were used to create profiles and determine the relationship of moisture content and bulk density with NOx, SO₂, CxHy, and CO concentrations in the flue gas. It showed that the effect of these two factors vary depending on the paper type used. The average concentrations of NOx, SO₂, CxHy, and CO were found to be 5.32 ppm/min, 13.94 ppm/min, 5.58 ppm/min, and 599.93 ppm/min, respectively. These averages are significantly greater than the limit set in RA 8749. However, using wax-coated paper showed higher NOx and SO₂ emission and slightly higher combustion efficiency. Also, the average combustion efficiency using paper is around 90% with an average lowest combustion efficiency at 66%. With this, further studies should be done to improve the combustion efficiency and reduce the emission of pollutants.
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