Experimental investigation of Segregated Dry Municipal Solid Waste (SDMSW) and biomass blends in the gasification process

Abstract Producing sustainable energy to meet the world’s current demands is a major concern. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a good source for producing sustainable energy and currently gets abundantly generated in India. Usually MSW is screened to prepare Segregated Dry Municipal Solid Waste (SDMSW) pellets before subjecting it to gasification to produce producer gas. But, generation of hazardous byproducts is a key issue in the conversion of SDMSW to producer gas. In the present work a multi-purpose downdraft gasifier has been designed and developed that can process biomass and SDMSW pellets blend while reducing undesirable byproducts such as tar and ash. The calorific value, chemical composition and byproduct content of the SDMSW pallets blended with biomass are determined prior to gasification. The feedstock is characterised using ultimate and proximate analysis, and the calorific value is determined using a bomb calorimeter. Gas chromatography is used to assess the quality of the producer gas. The results indicate that adding 50% SDMSW to Biomass results in good efficiency.