Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Yaghoub Hajizadeh ¹
• Paul T Williams ²

¹ Environment Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Isfahan, Iran, and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, IUMS, Isfahan, Iran

² Energy and Resources Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

Abstract

Aims: The aims of this study were to produce activated carbon from refuse derived fuel (RDF) and to examine its efficiency in dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) removal for application in the adsorptive processes of waste incineration. Materials and Methods: In the present study the RDF was carbonized at 600°C to produce char and the char was then steam activated at 900°C to generate activated carbon (AC). The efficiency of the produced AC in PCDD/F removal from simulated flue gas was investigated using a bench scale static-bed reactor. Experiments were conducted under flue gas stream at 275°C using a standard flyash (BCR-490) as a source of PCDD/F. The PCDD/F content of the exhaust gas was trapped by XAD-II resin, and after extraction and clean-up processes, were analyzed using a GC coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrophotometer (MS). Results: The results showed an overall reduction of 85% and 43% in the flue gas concentration of PCDD and PCDF, respectively, which compared favourably with a commercial AC. In addition, reduction was varied throughout the congener groups of these compounds. Conclusions: The AC derived from the pyrolysis of RDF therefore shows potential as a control material for dioxins and furans in waste combustion process.

Keywords

• Activated carbon
• flue gas
• incinerator
• MSW
• PCDD/F
• RDF