Experimental study on effects of moisture content on combustion characteristics of simulated municipal solid wastes in a fixed bed

A fixed-bed experimental reactor was employed to reveal the combustion characteristics in simulated municipal solid waste (MSW) beds. Temperature distributions, ignition front velocity, bed weight were measured during combustion and gas analysis was also performed for O2, CO2, CO, CxHy, NO, HCN. The moisture content in MSW was varied. For higher moisture content, the drying of material was finished much later and the ignition front temperatures, ignition front velocity and overall burning rate were found to drop. The average concentration of CO and CO2 from the bed was inversely proportional to the moisture level, and the highest concentrations of CO and CxHy were observed at middle level of investigated fuel moisture content. Measurements showed that NO and HCN emitted from the bed and reached the peaks simultaneously with the volatile matters, and the conversion ratio of fuel nitrogen to NO and average concentration of NO decreased with increasing moisture content.