Investigation of Reactions Occurring in Municipal Solid Waste Residues
type: CreativeWork
description: Each year more than 290 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in the U.S. Understanding the reactions occurring in waste during disposal, transport, and storage is important to move towards an integrated waste management strategy. Recently some landfills in the U.S. have been reported to exceed the regulatory temperature range, causing numerous regulatory challenges. The reason for this phenomenon is still unidentified. In addition, the co-disposal of the MSW ash in landfills lead to various reactions which can impact the landfill environment. Understanding the reactions occurring in the MSW and in ash is essential to minimize and prevent numerous issues in the current waste management system. This work focuses mainly on two key aspects that can help with better understanding of the reactions occurring in different steps of the waste management process. The first phenomenon studied is the issue of elevated temperature landfills (ETLFs). A method was developed to conduct experiments in lab using synthetic MSW to establish the performance of thermal pyrolytic reactions similar to landfills. The first set of experiments were conducted under controlled temperature environment to understand the impact of pressure, moisture, and temperature on MSW pyrolysis under simulated landfill conditions. In the second set of experiments, controlled heat input approach was used on the same type of waste. Under the controlled conditions, the critical process indicators such as CH4/CO2 gas composition ratio, hydrogen concentration, temperature, and pressure were investigated. The experimental findings enabled the identification of moisture windows that encourage the reactions producing undesirable gases from the waste. The results also show that the hydrogen generation in the waste is highly dependent on the availability of methane. A thorough understanding of the impact of different parameters on ETLF conditions was achieved. These experimental findings provide prac…
abstract: Each year more than 290 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in the U.S. Understanding the reactions occurring in waste during disposal, transport, and storage is important to move towards an integrated waste management strategy. Recently some landfills in the U.S. have been reported to exceed the regulatory temperature range, causing numerous regulatory challenges. The reason for this phenomenon is still unidentified. In addition, the co-disposal of the MSW ash in landfills lead to various reactions which can impact the landfill environment. Understanding the reactions occurring in the MSW and in ash is essential to minimize and prevent numerous issues in the current waste management system. This work focuses mainly on two key aspects that can help with better understanding of the reactions occurring in different steps of the waste management process. The first phenomenon studied is the issue of elevated temperature landfills (ETLFs). A method was developed to conduct experiments in lab using synthetic MSW to establish the performance of thermal pyrolytic reactions similar to landfills. The first set of experiments were conducted under controlled temperature environment to understand the impact of pressure, moisture, and temperature on MSW pyrolysis under simulated landfill conditions. In the second set of experiments, controlled heat input approach was used on the same type of waste. Under the controlled conditions, the critical process indicators such as CH4/CO2 gas composition ratio, hydrogen concentration, temperature, and pressure were investigated. The experimental findings enabled the identification of moisture windows that encourage the reactions producing undesirable gases from the waste. The results also show that the hydrogen generation in the waste is highly dependent on the availability of methane. A thorough understanding of the impact of different parameters on ETLF conditions was achieved. These experimental findings provide prac…
author: Moutushi, Tasnuva T
keywords: Elevated Temperature Landfills, Abiotic Landfill Decomposition, Municipal Solid Waste, Solid Waste Management, Waste-to-Energy Ash, Thermal Analysis, Other Chemical Engineering
date published: 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:57:59Z
provider: City University of New York - City College
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: City University of New York - City College