The Waste-to-Energy (WTE) effort at CCL is focused on understanding the many aspects of waste to energy technologies as well as developing novel approaches toward waste to energy. In addition, detailed research is ongoing that strives to understand the different phenomena occurring in WTE combustion and gasification systems. For example, kinetic reaction rates and mechanisms are being elucidated for waste components under various conditions. The conditions being investigated range from current operating systems to more forward looking advanced designs that target maximizing efficiency and material recovery while minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The waste components include, but are not limited to, waste tires, municipal solid waste (MSW), medical wastes, combined MSW and sewage sludge, hazardous wastes as well as co-feeding fossil fuel with waste components.
Specifically, waste tire pyrolysis research at CCL involves the thermal degradation of waste tire materials characterized by styrene butadiene and isoprene rubber. A mechanistic analysis has been formulated, describing PAH formation, based on the pyrolysates observed using the TGA-GC/MS during thermal treatment in different gas environments.