Pyrolysis of solid waste in a rotary kiln: influence of final pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis products

Temperature is one of the most important parameters in pyrolysis reaction. In present work, an externally heated laboratory-scale rotary-kiln pyrolyser was designed and developed. The influence of final pyrolysis temperature (FPT) on the pyrolytic products of solid wastes has been studied. Raising FPT caused increasing gas yield and decreasing semi-coke yield. The average heat value of the gas also changed with FPT. The content of aliphatic hydrocarbons in PE tar increased initially and then decreased with increasing FPT. Parallel to this, the content of aromatic ring changed conversely. FPT had obvious influence on the primary and elemental analysis data of the semi-cokes. The CO₂ reactivity of the semi-cokes also varied with the FPT. The kinetic parameters of the semi-cokes were different for the same material at the different FPT.