Impact of bulking agents on municipal solid waste refused derived fuel

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate how the bulking agents (BA) effect on municipal solid waste (MSW) moisture contents and refused derived fuel (RDF) pellets bulk density (BD), durability (DU) and hardness. In this experiment applied sugar cane trash, rice husk and cotton waste bulking agents each at 15%, 25%, 35% and 45% to reduce the moisture contents of MSW for RDF pellet development. Sugar cane trash was prominent in moisture reduction capability in 10 days than others BA. MSW and sugar cane trash mixture, RDF pellets pertained maximum BD (1.58 g/cm3), DU (99%) and hardness (27kg) were developed with compaction process, die diameter 8inch and 120◦C. It was also observed smoke appeared at 150◦C during pelting process due to burning of biomass. Furthermore bulking agents had also revealed effectiveness in BD, DU, hardness results as the quantity of BA increased. It was concluded that BA are suitable for moisture reduction and RDF pellet development, can be sued as an alternative energy fuel. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 57(2), 77-84, 2022