Particle size distribution and qualitative/quantitative analysis of trace metals in the combustion gas and fly ash of coal/refuse derived fuel

This work includes two different areas of research. Both areas are related to the combustion of the binder-enhanced densified refuse derived fuel (bdRDF) with high sulfur coal and examining trace elements. The first area of this work involved studying the trace metals in the combustion gas of bdRDF/coal blend and the effect of the binder, Ca(OH){dollar}sb2{dollar}, on reducing the trace elements emissions. The second area of work involved studying the trace elements in the fly ash and the effect of the dRDF and the binder on trace metals.; Each individual person disposes of an average of four to six pounds of garbage each day. Cities are running out of space for landfill sites. America disposes of an average of 160-200 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) a year and 90% of it goes into landfills. One way of reducing the volume of landfills is to burn MSW after turning it into RDF. A binder was added to the RDF in order to improve the quality and produce a good fuel. One concern in this development is the release of pollutants in the combustion process.; The Ca(OH){dollar}sb2{dollar} binder enhanced dRDF pellets satisfies the requirement of environmental acceptability, chemical and biological stability, and better storability. The trace elements in the combustion gas were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and in the fly ash using Energy Dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). The results indicates that some of the trace metals were reduced with the use of dRDF and binder. A particle size distribution was also studied using EDX to show the increase and the decrease of trace metals in relation to eight different particle sizes.; The results indicates that the use of binder enhanced dRDF instead of a sulfur-rich coal is promising in reducing some of the trace metals and many different kinds of organic and inorganic emissions. The use of bdRDF is environmentally and economically safe, and it reduces the number of landfills needed to dispose of waste.