Beneficial synergetic effect on gas production during co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and biomass in a vacuum reactor

A vacuum fixed bed reactor was used to pyrolyze sewage sludge, biomass (rice husk) and their blend under high temperature (900 °C). Pyrolytic products were kept in the vacuum reactor during the whole pyrolysis process, guaranteeing a long contact time (more than 2 h) for their interactions. Remarkable synergetic effect on gas production was observed. Gas yield of blend fuel was evidently higher than that of both parent fuels. The syngas (CO and H2) content and gas lower heating value (LHV) were obviously improved as well. It was highly possible that sewage sludge provided more CO2 and H2O during co-pyrolysis, promoting intense CO2-char and H2O-char gasification, which benefited the increase of gas yield and lower heating value. The beneficial synergetic effect, as a result, made this method a feasible one for gas production.