Comprehensive Estimation of Combustion Behavior and Thermochemical Structure Evolution of Four Typical Industrial Polymeric Wastes

A huge amount of industrial waste will be generated during the industrialization process and their harmless disposal has always been a headache for reducing carbon emissions. In this study, the combustion behaviors and thermal kinetics of four typical industrial polymeric wastes including rubber, leather, plastic and cloth, were systematically studied by using a Thermogravimetric Analysis. The gas emission and structural evolution was comprehensively analyzed using TG-FTIR, 2D-PCIS, ICP and TEM. The results show that the combustibility of leather and cloth are better than the other two samples, while the rubber and plastic have a wider combustion temperature range for higher content of C-H bonds and, the intermediate oxidation process and the stubborn cracking process of C=C bonds. The surface reaction was considered to be the main reaction of rubber and plastic (pre-exponential factor less than 10−9), while both leather and cloth went through a complex procedure during multiple decomposition. The volatiles products are gases (e.g., CO2, CH4) and small molecules (e.g., H2O). The high levels of basic metals in the industrial waste causes serious slagging and fouling tendency (fouling index higher than 4.0), which have a serious adverse influence on the operation of a waste incineration plant.