Thermogravimetric analysis as express tool for quality assessment of refuse derived fuels used for pyro-gasification

The development of pyro-gasification technologies makes necessary the development of new express analytical methods that are able to deal with the variability of feedstock and problems arising from it. Thermogravimetric proximate analysis of refuse derived fuels is a very fast, cheap and simple method for the determination of proximate and fractional composition. Development of this analytical approach may result in a very cost-effective method to describe wholesome composition and characteristics of feedstock used for pyrolysis and gasification processes in real time. The aim of this study was the development of such analytical method. Refuse derived fuel samples produced in Latvia and Estonia analysed during this study with thermogravimetric proximate analysis and standard methods. Equations for determination of gross calorific value and elemental composition from thermogravimetric proximate analysis were developed. Furthermore, results show that also signals pointing to excessive proportion of chlorine and fluorine can be obtained, using this method. The results obtained during this study can help to develop the automatic feedstock quality control systems for modern thermal processing technologies used in waste management.