Thermal behavior and gaseous emission analysis during co-combustion of ethanol fermentation residue from food waste and coal using TG–FTIR

Thermal characteristics and kinetics of coal and fermentation residue from food waste, including their blends, were evaluated using a non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ratio of fermentation residue to the blends by mass was set as 1/6, 2/6, 3/6, 4/6, and 5/6. The sample with 4/6 ratio exhibited the lowest final temperature and highest complex burning index of 2.24 × 10−6 °C−3 min−2, which was determined as the optimum ratio. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that the first-order and phase-boundary-controlled reaction models could well describe the burning process with higher correlation index. The gaseous emission analysis by using the coupled Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements was used for HCl, SO2, CO2. The results for the sample with ration of 4/6 demonstrated that HCl and SO2 decreased much more than those other ratio, which indicated that the blends could be regarded as an environmental-friendly fuel.

► TG–FTIR for ethanol fermentation residue mixed with coal.
► Optimum mixture ratio and pollution emission characteristic were analyzed.
► Kinetic analysis determined the model for the two stage combustion process.