Effects of additives on the co-pyrolysis of municipal solid waste and paper sludge by using thermogravimetric analysis

•The co-pyrolysis of biomass with additives (MgO, Al2O3 and ZnO) was researched.•Municipal solid waste, paper sludge and their blends were used as the biomass.•The initial temperature, residue mass, index D and activation energy were studied.•Various additives had different effects on different proportions of MSW and PS.

By using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the effects of different additives (MgO, Al2O3 and ZnO) on the pyrolysis characteristics and activation energy of municipal solid waste (MSW), paper sludge (PS) and their blends in N2 atmosphere had been investigated in this study. The experiments resulted that these additives were effective in reducing the initial temperature and activation energy. However, not all the additives were beneficial to reduce the residue mass and enhance the index D. For the different ratios of MSW and PS, the same additive even had the different influences. The catalytic effects of additives were not obvious and the pyrolysis became difficult with the increase of the proportion of PS. Based on all the contrast of the pyrolysis characteristics, MgO was the best additive and 70M30P was the best ratio, respectively.