Pyrolysis of high ash gasifiable waste materials—Evaluation of kinetic parameters using thermogravimetric analysis for energy extraction

Abstract Waste‐to‐energy is the sustainable approach for dealing with municipal solid waste resulting from fast urbanization. Among the different waste‐to‐energy options, pyrolysis and gasification are technically feasible methods which can meet the emission limits and effectively reduce the landfill disposal burden. The current work reports, for the first time, the co‐pyrolysis behaviour of (i) garden waste and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and (ii) paper rich refuse‐derived fuel (RDF), which are high ash gasifiable materials, using thermogravimetric analysis. Mixture of garden waste and LDPE shows the thermal behaviour between that of its individual constituents with positive synergy. The kinetic parameters of pyrolysis reaction of garden waste, LDPE, and its mixture are evaluated using model‐free and model‐fitting methods, which shows that the addition of LDPE decreases the activation energy requirement of garden waste. The activation energy for the mixture of 25 wt.% LDPE and 75 wt.% garden waste is approximately 213 kJ/mol. The thermogravimetric analysis of paper rich RDF indicates that the pyrolysis involves multiple stages consisting of decomposition of cellulose, hemi‐cellulose, lignin, and plastics. The activation energy for the RDF under the specified condition is approximately 205 kJ/mol. The findings indicate that the waste materials considered in this study possess significant potential as a feedstock for energy recovery via thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis and gasification.