Investigation of gasification kinetics of multi-component waste mixtures in a novel thermogravimetric flow reactor via gas analysis.

A novel gasification fed-batch reactor enabling both thermogravimetric and gas analysis of large samples (up to tens of grams) was designed and tested. Air gasification experiments on food-court waste representative samples and its components were performed at 700 °C and 800 °C using ER = 0.3. At both temperatures, the lignocellulosics fraction produced highest H concentration (greater than 21% at 800 °C) while the plastic components generated less H regardless of process temperature (2.44%-7.08%). Synergistic effects of multiple components gasification with respect to H production was noticed through its non-linear evolution at 700 °C (ranging from 1.18% to 5.38%). A strong negative effect was observed at 800 °C; plastic addition reduced H production when combined with lignocellulosic and organic matter (1.02% to 9.73%). The same effects were observed for CH formation. This phenomenon was validated by kinetic analysis of decay curves of all components and their mixtures at the beginning of gasification in entire temperature region.