TY - JOUR
T1 - Grinding and Pelleting Characteristics of Municipal Solid Waste Fractions
AU - Smith, Zachary
AU - Isaac, Blesson
AU - Tumuluru, Jaya Shankar
AU - Yancey, Neal
N1 - Funding Information:
US Department of Energy disclaimer: This work was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. References herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof, or its contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. US Department of Agriculture disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US Government determination or policy. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the DOE through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through the Bioenergy Technologies Office project WBS #1.2.1.2.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/12/20
Y1 - 2023/12/20
N2 - The efficient utilization of low-cost carbon feedstocks, such as municipal solid waste (MSW), in biorefineries has become increasingly important for reducing GHG emissions and meeting the growing demand for renewable energy sources. However, MSW as a feedstock presents several challenges, including high moisture content, compositional variability, particle size and shape, density, and ash content. To address these challenges, the potential of mechanical dewatering and high-moisture pelleting processes for densifying MSW fractions, such as paper, cardboard, thin plastic, and thick plastic, into low-cost carbon feedstocks with improved handling and conversion properties were investigated. The effect of these preprocessing technologies on the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the resulting pellets, including bulk density, durability, and size uniformity, were evaluated. The results showed that with these preprocessing technologies, the paper and cardboard fractions could be pelleted at moisture contents over 40% (w.b.) while achieving >99% durability and >300 kg/m3, while the high moisture plastic fractions were not suitable for pelleting. The thick plastic fraction processed in a screw press was shown to remove up to 30% of the moisture content in a single pass. These findings suggest that these mechanical preprocessing technologies can improve the physical properties of low-cost municipal solid waste fractions for biofuels production.
AB - The efficient utilization of low-cost carbon feedstocks, such as municipal solid waste (MSW), in biorefineries has become increasingly important for reducing GHG emissions and meeting the growing demand for renewable energy sources. However, MSW as a feedstock presents several challenges, including high moisture content, compositional variability, particle size and shape, density, and ash content. To address these challenges, the potential of mechanical dewatering and high-moisture pelleting processes for densifying MSW fractions, such as paper, cardboard, thin plastic, and thick plastic, into low-cost carbon feedstocks with improved handling and conversion properties were investigated. The effect of these preprocessing technologies on the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the resulting pellets, including bulk density, durability, and size uniformity, were evaluated. The results showed that with these preprocessing technologies, the paper and cardboard fractions could be pelleted at moisture contents over 40% (w.b.) while achieving >99% durability and >300 kg/m3, while the high moisture plastic fractions were not suitable for pelleting. The thick plastic fraction processed in a screw press was shown to remove up to 30% of the moisture content in a single pass. These findings suggest that these mechanical preprocessing technologies can improve the physical properties of low-cost municipal solid waste fractions for biofuels production.
KW - MSW fractions
KW - biomass
KW - feedstock
KW - mechanical treatment
KW - pellets
KW - preprocessing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181850076&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/2173e59d-d325-307b-9a41-ce77247bd16d/
U2 - 10.3390/en17010029
DO - 10.3390/en17010029
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85181850076
SN - 1996-1073
VL - 17
SP - 29
JO - Energies
JF - Energies
IS - 1
M1 - 29
ER -