Abstract
The two main wastes generated from secondary fibre paper mills are rejects (composed mainly of plastics and fibres) and de-inking sludge, both of which are evolved from the pulping process during paper manufacture. The current practice for the disposal of these wastes is either by land-spreading or land-filling. This work explores the gasification of blends of pre-conditioned rejects and de-inking sludge pellets with mixed wood chips in an Imbert type fixed bed downdraft gasifier with a maximum feeding capacity of 10kg/h. The producer gases evolved would generate combined heat and power (CHP) in an internal combustion engine. The results show that as much as 80wt.% of a brown paper mill's rejects (consisting of 20wt.% mixed plastics and 80wt.% paper fibres) could be successfully gasified in a blend with 20wt.% mixed wood chips. The producer gas composition was 16.24% H2, 23.34% CO, 12.71% CO2 5.21% CH4 and 42.49% N2 (v/v%) with a higher heating value of 7.3MJ/Nm3. After the removal of tar and water condensate the producer gas was of sufficient calorific value and flow rate to power a 10kWe gas engine. Some blends using rejects from other mill types were not successful, and the limiting factor was usually the agglomeration of plastics present within the fuel.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 692-699 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Applied Energy |
Volume | 103 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- CHP
- De-inking sludge
- Energy
- Gasification
- Paper wastes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- General Energy