Effects of natural and modified calcium-based sorbents on heavy metals of food waste under oxy-fuel combustion

Performance of natural and modified calcium-based sorbents for heavy metals for food waste under oxy-fuel combustion in a lab-scale tubular furnace was carried out. The effects of furnace temperature, sorbents type, and CO2/O2 ratio on adsorption of heavy metals were investigated. Increasing the furnace temperature helped fixing Al in the bottom ash, but increased the volatilization of Zn. The results showed that heavy metals captured by sorbents highly depended on the metals types. Nature and modified CaO had excellent performance for Al capture while CaCO3 could not absorb Al. Neither CaCO3 or CaO could not use as sorbents for the Cr capture. CO2/O2 ratio highly affected the capture of Cr and Zn but had no influence on Al, and the decrease of CO2/O2 ratio would help capturing Cr and Zn. This work contributes to the heavy metals controlled by Ca-based sorbents during municipal solid waste oxy-fuel combustion.