Ignition and Emission Characteristics of Waste Tires Pyrolysis Char Co-Combustion with Peat and Sawdust

Abstract

The pyrolysis processing of waste tires is a promising technology for obtaining products with high marginality. One of the possible methods of solid pyrolysis product utilization is its combustion for energy production, but this is complicated by poor reactivity and sulfur emissions. The combustion of char together with more reactive fuels could solve this problem. The current study is devoted to the combustion characteristics of waste tires pyrolysis carbon residue mixed with biomass: pine sawdust and peat. The oxidation characteristics in thermal analyzer conditions were found to change insignificantly. In contrast, 15 wt% of peat and sawdust additives was found to decrease ignition delay times in realistic conditions of combustion at 800 °C by 42 and 78%, respectively, while the SO2 emissions also dropped by 73 and 52%, respectively. The extra sulfur was found to be contained in ash residue in the form of CaS and CaSO4. While increasing peat concentration from 5 to 15 wt% was found to have almost no effect, the same increase for sawdust resulted into an almost proportional decrease in ignition delay times. The results obtained could be used for the integration of waste tires pyrolysis char mixtures with peat or sawdust into the energy sector.