Thermal degradation of driftwood: Determination of the concentration of sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine and sulfur containing compounds.
The annual production of driftwood in Italy has been estimated to be more than 60,000 tonnes. This wood can be used as an energy source. Particular attention should be paid to its content of alkali and alkaline earth metals, sulfur and chlorine. Few works are available in the literature on this topic. For this reason, the authors propose experimental tests of combustion, gasification and pyrolysis, to evaluate the fate of alkali and alkaline earth metals, sulfur and chlorine in the solid residues and compare the three thermal degradation technologies. The results show a release of alkaline earth metals of about 45% of the initial quantity for gasification and a release of 55% of the initial quantity for combustion (while pyrolysis at 600°C has a very low release). The release of sodium is about 65% for gasification and 80% for combustion. It can be seen that the release of sodium is higher than that of alkaline earth metals; this is due to the divalency of the last ones. Dealing with the release of major elements (chlorine, sulfur and AAEMs) the tests have shown that pyrolysis process is a low emitting technology.
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy. Electronic address: bartocci@crbnet.it.
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Bartocci
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Barbanera
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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D'Amico
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Laranci
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Cavalaglio
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Gelosia
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Ingles
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Bidini
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Buratti
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Cotana
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
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Fantozzi
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D006358:Hot Temperature; D017745:Incineration / Q000379:methods*; D007558:Italy; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*; D014934:Wood / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
D000393:Air Pollutants; D062611:Solid Waste
Alkali metals; Chlorine; Combustion; Driftwood; Gasification; Pyrolysis