Energy recovery from sewage sludge waste blends: Detailed characteristics of pyrolytic oil and gas

Using waste as an alternative energy source may partially replace fossil fuels. In this paper, energy recovery from waste blends (sewage sludge (SS), polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP), paper rejects (PR), and waste tyres) was tested through laboratory-scale co-pyrolysis. For each co-pyrolysis test, 7 l of waste blend in different ratios were used. The results of pyrolytic oil and gas analyses show valuable compounds and chemical materials recovered. The detailed analyses show the effects of co-pyrolysis parameters, especially the ratios of waste blends with respect to the process temperature of 600°C, on the pyrolytic gas and oil. The highest volumes of gas (0.66 m3) and oil (699 ml) were obtained from sample 5_8 (PES:SS:PR). Waste blend 15_1 (LDPE:SS) had the highest gross calorific value (GCV) of 43.82 MJ/m3 in gas, and had the highest proportion of flammable components (46.31% of methane). Sample 5_8 had the highest calorific value in pyrolytic oil (45 MJ/kg) and sample 5_3 had the lowest (28.113 MJ/kg), which is comparable to coal. High-quality pyrolytic gas and oil were obtained with average GCV of 44 MJ/m3 and 40 MJ/kg respectively, where the average GCV of the most calorific fossil fuels is 43.6 MJ/kg in crude oil and 34 MJ/m3 in natural gas. We conclude that co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and waste is a convenient and simple method of waste disposal under a synergetic effect of efficient waste management, energy production, and reduction of dependence on fossil fuels.