Thermogravimetric characteristics of typical municipal solid waste fractions during co-pyrolysis

• Binary interactions of extensive MSW components were studied.
• TG curve overlap ratio was applied to evaluate the interaction of co-pyrolysis.
• Strong interactions of rice/orange peel and rice/poplar wood were identified.
• Strong interactions of PVC and other components were identified.

The interactions of nine typical municipal solid waste (MSW) fractions during pyrolysis were investigated using the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). To compare the mixture results with the calculation results of superposition of single fractions quantitatively, TG overlap ratio was introduced. There were strong interactions between orange peel and rice (overlap ratio 0.9736), and rice and poplar wood (overlap ratio 0.9774). The interactions of mixture experiments postponed the peak and lowered the peak value. Intense interactions between PVC and rice, poplar wood, tissue paper, wool, terylene, and rubber powder during co-pyrolysis were observed, and the pyrolysis at low temperature was usually promoted. The residue yield was increased when PVC was blended with rice, poplar wood, tissue paper, or rubber powder; while the residue yield was decreased when PVC was blended with wool.