Pyrolysis of mixed municipal solid waste: Interaction effect and scale-up studies

Pyrolysis is seen as emerging waste to-energy techniques to handle increasing waste generation, which produces useful end products such as pyrolysis oil, gases and char. This thesis explores the potential of the pyrolysis process to treat the unsegregated MSW generated in the Indian subcontinent. Results show that interacting mixtures within MSW, including rubber and biomass stabilise the pyrolysis oil, whereas, biomass-to-plastic and PET-to-other plastic polymers result in destabilising the oil. Finally, the techno-economic analysis of a 200 TPD MSW pyrolysis plant is concluded to be energy and economically feasible. The economics is however sensitive to oil pricing and collection efficiency.