Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass

715 Pages·1980·11.008 MB·English

by  Jerry L. Jones and Shirley B. Radding (Eds.)

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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
Thermal Conversion of
Solid Wastes and Biomass
Jerry L. Jones and
Shirley B. Radding, EDITORS
SRI International
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
01 Shigeyoshi Takaoka
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1 Masakatsu Hiraoka
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8 Ralph Overend
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September 10-14, 1979.
130
ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
WASHINGTON, D. C. 1980
In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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0 Main entry under title:
80- Thermal conversion of solid wastes and biomass.
19 (ACS symposium series; 130 ISSN 0097-6156)
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b Includes bibliographies and index.
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02 1. Waste products as fuel—Congresses. 2. Biomass
0.1 energy—Congresses.
1 I. Jones, Jerry Latham, 1946- . II. Radding,
oi: Shirley B., 1922- . III. American Chemical Society.
0 | d ImVe.n tAaml eCrhiceamni cCalh. emVi.c aSle Srioecsi:e tyA. mDeriviciasino nC hoef mEincavilr Sono
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9 ciety. ACS symposium series; 130.
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9, TP360.T46 662'.8 80-14754
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st ISBN 0-8412-0565-5 ASCMC8 130 1-747 1980
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
ACS Symposium Series
1 M. Joan Comstock, Series Editor
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Robert A. Hofstader Gunter Zweig
In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
FOREWORD
The ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES was founded in 1974 to provide
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00 a medium for publishing symposia quickly in book form. The
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1 IN CHEMISTRY SERIES except that in order to save time the
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80- papers are not typeset but are reproduced as they are sub
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k-1 mitted by the authors in camera-ready form. Papers are re
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1/ viewed under the supervision of the Editors with the assistance
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10 of the Series Advisory Board and are selected to maintain the
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doi: previously published papers are not accepted. Both reviews
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
PREFACE
The conversion to useful energy of solid wastes, agricultural residues,
and forestry residues by thermal processes has long been practiced to
varying extents in many industrialized and developing areas of the world.
Within the last decade, however, environmental concerns and rising fossil
fuel prices have led to increased efforts to develop and implement efficient
and economical methods for recovering energy from solid wastes and
biomass. During 1977, researchers within the Chemical Engineering Labo
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00 ratory at SRI International reviewed the worldwide status of pyrolysis,
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0. gasification, and liquefaction methods to identify unique processes and
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01 topics for future research. At that time very few books were available
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8 that presented comprehensive reviews of on-going research and develop
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k- ment activities related to thermal conversion of solid wastes and biomass.
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1/ Consequently, a symposium was planned under the auspices of the Ameri
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10 can Chemical Society (ACS) to discuss major research and development
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doi: 1 phreoldg raatm sth ein AthCe SU Nnaittieodn Salt aMtese.e tTinwg einnt yA-onnaeh epiamp,e rCsa flirfoomrn itah,i s dsuyrminpg osMiuamrc—h
80 | 1978—were published as ACS Symposium Series No. 76 during the sum
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9, 1 mer of 1978. Because of the success of the first symposium and the interest
st 2 expressed by participants in the status of research being done in other
gu countries, planning began in August 1978 for a second symposium with an
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e: expanded scope. The symposium was to include speakers from North
at America, Western Europe, and Asia. Financial support for the symposium
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n was obtained from: the Urban Waste and Municipal Systems Branch of
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ati the U.S. Department of Energy; the Municipal Environmental Research
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ubli Laboratory and the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory of the
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the Division of Environmental
Chemistry of the American Chemical Society.
The symposium, held at the September 1979 National Meeting of the
American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., was jointly sponsored by
the ACS Divisions of Environmental Chemistry, Fuel Chemistry, and Cellu
lose, Paper and Textiles. It was also planned in cooperation with other
professional societies including: the American Institute of Chemical Engi
neers; the American Society of Agricultural Engineers; the American
Society of Civil Engineers; and the Forest Products Research Society.
J. L. Jones and S. B. Radding of SRI International were the chief
editors of this book and were responsible for the overall planning of the
symposium. The following individuals assisted in the planning and organi-
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
zation: A. G. Buekens, University of Brussels, Belgium; M. Hiraoka, Kyoto
University, Japan; R. Overend, National Research Council, Canada; T. B.
Reed, Solar Energy Research Institute, United States; and S. Takoka, SRI
International, Japan.
A. G. Buekens, M. Hiraoka, R. Overend, and S. Takaoka also served
as associate editors and were responsible for editing many of the contribu
tions from their respective regions or countries.
The book contains 49 chapters, 47 of which were presented at the
symposium. The remaining two chapters were contributed by authors who
were interested in presenting a paper at the symposium but were unable
to do so because of a lack of available time on the program.
The first section describes the many research, development, and
demonstration programs funded under the U.S. Department of Energy's
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0 Urban Waste and Municipal Systems Branch and the Biomass Energy
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0. Systems Branch.
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0-0 Conversion of wood to fuels, chemicals, and energy in the form of
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98 represent the major thermal conversion route for biomass and solid waste
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9, fuels. Chapter 5 presents the findings of a survey of the current techno
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st logical state of the art and system economics for combustion of municipal
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blic users is the topic of Chapter 6. Such small capacity systems are not yet
u widely used in the United States or elsewhere for energy production. An
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economic analysis is given for hypothetical systems with capacities to fire
up to approximately 100 metric tons/day of wastes. Chapters 7, 8, and 9
deal with fluidized-bed combustion systems. Chapter 7 describes a com
mercially available combustor now used at about 30 installations in the
forest products industry for burning wood residues; Chapter 8 describes
another commercially available fluidized-bed combustor for wood residues
and also contains information concerning experiments with burning proc
essed MSW. A multisolid fluidized-bed unit now under development in
pilot-scale equipment for solid waste and sludge combustion is the topic of
Chapter 9.
Densification of solid wastes and biomass to produce solid fuels with
more desirable physical properties is the subject of the fourth section.
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
Densification produces solid fuels that are free flowing and easily handled
as opposed to shredded wastes or agricultural residues. Chapter 10 con
siders the mechanical processing of MSW and describes individual unit
processes that typically precede densification. The densification process
(pelletizing) also is described, as are the physical properties of the product.
Chapter 11 presents another approach to producing a densified fuel. After
various mechanical processing steps, the cellulosic fraction is embrittled
with acid and then ball-milled to produce a powdered solid fuel. This
process currently is being demonstrated in a large commercial facility.
Chapters 10 and 11 deal with processes to be used principally at large
capacity facilities. Chapter 12 describes the development of densification
equipment for solid wastes for use at naval bases. Such equipment also
may have applications for commercial and industrial users as well as some
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98 scale equipment. The effects of temperature on energy consumption are
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0 | d current business venture in the biomass densification field and characterizes
8 emissions from burning the product fuel pellets.
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9, The fifth section is the first of four parts dealing with specific pyrolysis,
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st gasification, and liquefaction projects in various regions. It includes
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blic of solid wastes or biomass is accomplished in an indirectly heated transport
Pu reactor. By various separation steps, an olefin-rich gas is produced and

then polymerized under high temperature and pressure conditions. The
conditions under which formation of olefins is maximized rather than
formation of char, tar, or water-soluble organics are discussed. Chapter 17
describes the use of a molten salt bath reactor for gasifying solid wastes
such as refinery acid pit sludge, rubber tire scraps, wood, leather scraps,
and waste photographic film. Experiments have been conducted in both
bench-scale and pilot plant-scale equipment. Chapter 18 concerns pyrolysis
research work conducted by a U.S. researcher in cooperation with French
scientists at the Odeillo (France) solar furnace. The solar furnace was
selected as a heat source so as to obtain an extremely high energy flux
through the quartz window reactor. At the extremely high flux rates, char
yields were very low and condensible product yields were high. Chapter 19
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
describes experiments with a downdraft gasifier (previously described in
the ACS Symposium Series No. 76) that uses densified fuel pellets pro
duced from processing MSW. Chapter 20 contains information on a
mobile pyrolysis reactor now being tested in commercial applications.
Such a unit can be moved to the biomass source to produce charcoal for
later use as a fuel. Chapter 21 deals with the subject of retrofitting existing
oil- or gas-fired industrial boilers with a crossflow biomass gasifier that
would use densified fuel pellets. Prototype units currently are undergoing
field testing. A description of a vertical shaft countercurrent-flow (or fixed-
bed) gasifier is given in Chapter 22. Two such units are being installed to
gasify waste cigarette papers and filters, packaging paper, cardboard, and
other wastes. The product fuel gas will be burned in a boiler. Chapter 23
discusses the energy requirements (in the form of steam) for activating
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98 addressed in the sixth section. Chapter 24 contains a review of the analysis
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0.1 fuel or a liquid fuel substitution product. A short-term goal is associated
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0 | d Dulong diagrams used by the author for describing biomass conversion
8 routes. Chapter 25 concerns pyrolysis of agricultural residues in a pilot
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9, plant-scale, continuous-flow, indirectly fired rotary retort. The principal
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st products are char and a fuel gas of intermediate heating value. Conversion
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Dat demonstrated for wood gasification in a unit capable of processing approxi
on mately 25 metric tons/day of wood. A mechanical processing system and
cati synthesis gas production are also discussed. Chapter 27 describes a direct
ubli wood liquefaction process being developed in a laboratory-scale batch feed
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system. The reported results indicate the ability to liquify wood at elevated
temperatures in the presence of a nickel catalyst and in the absence of
hydrogen. Pyrolysis of wood in a bench-scale fluidized-bed reactor is
discussed in Chapter 28. Experiments with and without alkali carbonate
catalysts were conducted. Chapter 29 describes an air-blown, vertical shaft
wood gasifier now being demonstrated. Preliminary performance data are
given for the gasification system, which is coupled to a diesel engine power
generation system.
European technology for pyrolysis, gasification, and liquefaction is
described in the seventh section. Chapter 30 includes an interesting
discussion of why the development of such processes for MSW has not
been as rapid in Europe as in the United States or Japan. During the
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In Thermal Conversion of Solid Wastes and Biomass; Jones, J., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.