Comparative study on pollutant emission characteristics of rural solid waste and its typical components during different combustion processes

ABSTRACT

Rural solid waste (RSW) treatment is a key part in waste management. Current research on pollutant emissions from the thermal treatment of RSW is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different thermal treatments on the pollutant emission characteristics of RSW in Guangdong, China. Rubber, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and food waste (FW) were selected as the source enriched materials for SO₂, HCl, and NO_x, respectively. Firstly, the impact of combustion and gasification-combustion on pollutant formation characteristics was compared. With the application of gasification-combustion, total NO and NO₂ emissions from FW reduced by 60.3% and 40%, respectively. In contrast, SO₂ and HCl emissions increased slightly by 1.67% and 5.49% for rubber and PVC, respectively. Besides, the reaction temperature and atmosphere of gasification-combustion were investigated. When the temperature exceeded 700°C with proportion of air (PA) fixed at 0.5 no NO₂ was detected. The synergy among the components and the catalytic contribution of ash had been identified as important factors influencing the pollutant emission characteristics, and the application of gasification-combustion can effectively improve NO_x emission characteristic.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Combustion
• gasification-combustion
• gas pollutants
• rural solid waste
• synergy

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Author contribution

Junjie Li: Investigation, methodology, and writing – original draft. Jiehong Tang: Investigation, writing – review and editing. Xiaoqian Ma: Conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision, and writing – review and editing. Yanfen Liao: Funding acquisition, resources, and supervision.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Key Technologies R&D Program of Guangdong Province (2020B1111380001)

Notes on contributors

Junjie Li

Junjie Li is the postgraduate student of South China University of Technology.

Jiehong Tang

Jiehong Tang is the postgraduate student of South China University of Technology.

Xiaoqian Ma

Xiaoqian Ma is the professor worked in South China University of Technology.

Yanfen Liao

Yanfen Liao is the professor worked in South China University of Technology.