TABINDA SHABBIR

ENIVRONMENTAL SCIENCE B.S 6TH SEMESTER

 INDEX

S.NO CONTENTS PAGES

1 INTRODUCTION 2
SOLID WASTE 2
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE 3

2 PYROLYSIS 3
DEFINITION 3
TYPES OF PYROLYSIS 3
PROCESSES OF PYROLYSIS 4
WHY TO USE PYROLYSIS 6
WHY NOT TO USE 7

3 CONCLUSION 8

4 REFERENCES 9

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 INTRODUCTION
Solid waste generation is an inevitable result of human activities and its
management has a direct impact on public health as well as public welfare.
Over the years, the world has experienced tremendous increase in
quantities of solid waste generated and the complexity of its composition.
This is compounded by the growing use of plastics and electronic
consumer products, posing a great challenge to the agencies charged with
managing MSW.

Solid waste generation in Pakistan ranges between 0.283 to 0.612

kg/capita/day and the waste generation growth rate is 2.4% per year. Solid
domestic waste is typically dumped on low-lying land. The unavailability
of proper disposal methods and resources for solid waste managing
results in various environmental and human health hazard effects.

SOLID WASTE:

Solid waste can be defined as the useless and unwanted products in solids
or semisolids, non-soluble materials (including gases and liquids in
containers) such as agricultural refuse, demolition waste, industrial waste,
mining residues, municipal garbage, and sewage sludge.

The most common solid waste are:

 Municipal solid waste

 Hazardous waste
 Agriculture waste
 Industrial waste

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MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE:

Municipal Solid Waste (more commonly known as trash or garbage)

consists of everyday items used and then throw away, such as product
packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps,
newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries. This comes from homes,
schools, hospitals, and businesses.

PYROLYSIS
DEFINITION:

Pyrolysis (Pyro=heat, lysis=break down) is a form of treatment that

chemically decomposes organic materials by heat in the absence of
oxygen. Pyrolysis typically occurs under pressure and at operating
temperatures above 430 ˚C (800 ˚F).

If volatile or semi-volatile materials are present in the waste, thermal

desorption will also occur. Organic materials are transformed into gases,
small quantities of liquid, and a solid residue containing carbon and ash.

Types of pyrolysis:

Three types of pyrolysis reactions have been isolated on the basis of

temperature and residence time of the biomass:

 In slow pyrolysis (also known as conventional pyrolysis), the

feedstock is heated at low temperatures (about 5000˚C) and low
residence time (seconds to a few days). The feedstock is slowly

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 devolatilized to produce char and tar as the main products, which
can then be allowed to undergo recombination.

 Flash pyrolysis involves heating at moderate temperatures (400-

6000˚C). Under these conditions, the residence time is often less
than two seconds with the main products being tar and bio-oil.

 Fast pyrolysis (also known as thermolysis) occurs temperatures

greater than 5500˚C. As such the residence time is very short and the
products formed (gases rich in ethylene) are of high quality and can
be used for subsequent production of gasoline/alcohols.

Most practical applications of pyrolysis are based on fast pyrolysis since

the nature of its resulting products is much close to the currently used
fossil fuels.

Processes of pyrolysis:

 Overall, the main components of biomass are carbohydrates

(Cellulose and hemicellulose) and lignin.

 On heating, the carbohydrate components disintegrate into volatile

products of lower molecular weight (bio-oil and syngas) while the
lignin gets charred into a carbon-rich residue.

 Pyrolysis begins by dehydration of the feedstock.

 This occurs at temperatures below 3000˚C (slow pyrolysis) and is

responsible for weight reduction and formation of CO, CO2, water
and char.
 The dehydration process is followed by fragmentation of the
biomass at temperatures above 3000˚C (flash and fast pyrolysis).

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 At about 3500˚C, the feedstock disintegrates by up to 80% in weight
and the remnant feedstock forms char.

 If heating is prolonged to about 6000˚C, the amount of char formed

would further reduce to barely 9% by weight of the original
feedstock.

 Here, the biomass depolymerizes into some anhydrous glucose

compounds as well as light combustible volatile materials.

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WHY TO USE PYROLYSIS?

 Pyrolysis is a suitable alternative to the conventional MSW

management options (particularly incineration) for partial
decomposition and volume reduction of MSW.

 This process is very flexible, it can be used to treat a wide range of

solid wastes since the process can adapt easily to variations in
composition of the feedstock.

 Pyrolysis is a thermal-chemical decomposition process that converts

carbon-rich matter into a gas, a liquid and carbon-rich residue.

 The gaseous product is synthetic gas (commonly known as syngas),

a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane
(CH4) and hydrogen (H2) gases, whereas the liquid and solid

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 products comprise pyrolysis oil (a bio-fuel) and char/ash
respectively.

 With respect to environmental pollution, pyrolysis does not produce

many air emissions due use of limited oxygen.

 Pyrolysis is a relatively simple technology which can be used even

for small-scale practical applications such as in spacecraft.

Why not to use:

 There is a potential for generating possibly toxic residues for

instance, unreformed carbon, some inorganic compounds and inert
mineral ash.

 Certain possibly toxic air emissions may be liberated, such as,

dioxins, acid gases, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and certain
particulates.

 Needs a particular space and oxygen-free environment.

 High operational and capital cost.

 Needs to be pre-sorted or processed as feedstock.

 Proper work experienced individuals are required.

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 CONCLUSION:
Different waste treatment options have different type of impacts; however,
environmental soundness of the technology should be accounted in the
long time perspective. Pyrolysis has found one of the emerging
technologies which have lower environmental impact than the
incineration process.

However, in view of the great MSW management challenge facing many

developing countries, resource recovery is only a secondary goal of MSW
pyrolysis. The primary goal is the use of pyrolysis for managing MSW by
reducing their storage volumes and converting them to more
stable/disposable/usable products. From an economic perspective,
pyrolysis of MSW is still a viable option despite the seemingly high initial
costs involved in installation of the equipment. Although, the technology
has long-term environmental benefits that, no doubt, will outweigh the
initial costs, especially in view of the prevailing world economic, energy
and environmental crises.

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 REFERENCES
 Onyango D.O. Kaluli J. W. Department of Biomechanical and Environmental
Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi,
Kenya. PYROLYSIS: AN ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT.

 Eilhann Kwon. Kelly J. Westby. Marco J. Castaldi. May 2013. Department of Earth
and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Transforming Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) into Fuel via the Gasification/Pyrolysis
Process. 18-3559

 Rahman A N E. Khaleel Akmal M A. Prasad K B S. September 2000. Journal of

scientific and industrial research. Pyrolysis of solid waste. pp 52-59

 Environmental protection department. Solid waste. 25th September 2016

http://epd.punjab.gov.pk/solid_waste

 Municipal solid waste. Environmental protection agency. March 2016

https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/web/html/index.html

 Smart ranger. Global Environmental Centre. What is solid waste?

http://www.smartranger.net/index.cfm?&menuid=3

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