Employing CO₂ as reaction medium for in-situ suppression of the formation of benzene derivatives and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during pyrolysis of simulated municipal solid waste

This study proposes a strategic principle to enhance the thermal efficiency of pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW). An environmentally sound energy recovery platform was established by suppressing the formation of harmful organic compounds evolved from pyrolysis of MSW. Using CO₂ as reaction medium/feedstock, CO generation was enhanced through the following: 1) expediting the thermal cracking of volatile organic carbons (VOCs) evolved from the thermal degradation of the MSWs and 2) directly reacting VOCs with CO₂. This particular influence of CO₂ on pyrolysis of the MSWs also led to the in-situ mitigation of harmful organic compounds (e.g., benzene derivatives and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) considering that CO₂ acted as a carbon scavenger to block reaction pathways toward benzenes and PAHs in pyrolysis. To understand the fundamental influence of CO₂, simulated MSWs (i.e., various ratios of biomass to polymer) were used to avoid any complexities arising from the heterogeneous matrix of MSW. All experimental findings in this study suggested the foreseeable environmental application of CO₂ to energy recovery from MSW together with disposal of MSW. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.