CheITlical Analyses of the Organic Portions of Household Refuse; the Effect of Certain Elements on Incineration and Resource Recovery

Household refuse, often considered merely waste for disposal, is being considered as fuel for utility boilers [1] , for chemical feedstock for pyrol­ ysis to produce fuel gas and oil [2,3], and as media for anaerobic digestion by bacteria to produce methane [4]. Previous chemical analyses of this por­ tion of municipal solid waste were directed only at incineration [5] . The organic portion of household refuse typ­ ically contains food residues, lawn and garden trim­ mings, wood, and a variety .of paper and plastic products. The relative content of these materials may vary with climate and temporally with the season and even day to day, within a given week, sub­ ject to local habits [6]. An "average" municipal refuse may contain carbon 35.3, hydrogen 4.4, oxygen 28.2, nitrogen 0.42, sulphur 0.20, and non­ combustibles 31.4 percent by dry weight [5]. The work reported here was directed at establishing the contents of selected elements in the organic portion of household refuse. The aim was to identify pos­ sibly those fractions which may contain a sufficient amount of one or more of these elements capable of forming acidic or other undesirable products upon subsequent chemical or biological processing. The elements of interest are carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorous and chlorine. These may be acid pre­ cursors during combustio� of the refuse as a fuel in a power plant or incinerator and possibly during pyrolysis. The effect of each of these elements in ELMER R. KAISER