Experimental investigation of thermal conversion of solid waste under high temperature agent (steam/air)

Abstract: Most of the problems with providing a continuous and sustainable energy supply for the worldwide society are negative consequences to the environment and its living habitants steaming from uses of conventional technologies. Those consequences should be minimized by developing and improving new technologies as well as by utilization of other type of feedstock than fossil fuels, such as biomass, industrial or municipal solid waste. Nowadays, gasification is the main technology for biomass conversion to energy and a great alternative for the thermal treatment of solid waste. The number of various applications for produced gas shows the flexibility of gasification and that is why allows it to be integrated with other industrial processes, as well as power generation systems.             The main objectives of this thesis were to present behavior of different kind of feedstock undergoing pyrolysis/gasification processes in reactors using highly preheated agents and additionally compare the compositions of produced gases. In this thesis two different systems were presented; the first is lab-scale gasifier for the treatment of biocoal, automotive shredder residue (ASR), refuse derived fuel (RDF), biomass (straw pellets) and plastic waste (polyethylene) and the second one is a large up-draft, fixed bed gasifier used for investigation of biocoal. The thesis was divided into four main parts: beginning with theoretical introduction, subsequently showing outcomes from investigations carried out on lab-scale test unit, large HTAG facility and finishing on short conclusions.