CO2 pyrolysis and gasification of COVID‐19 based wastes (overall gown) with Indian high ash coal

Abstract

AbstractThe outbreak of COVID virus resulted not only in massive human deaths but also created huge waste disposal issues. Proper disposal of COVID waste is necessary. The conversion of these wastes into value‐added products such as syngas is beneficial to overcome energy scarcity issues. The Indian high ash coal (HAC) is nonreactive, and the co‐utilisation of HAC with these plastic wastes is advantageous to produce high‐quality syngas. In the present study, thermal treatment of overall gowns (OG) used during COVID by pyrolysis and gasification process was carried out under inert and reactive conditions with and without HAC at various operating temperatures. During pyrolysis, oil with a yield of 17% was produced under N2 conditions at 900°C, whereas a reduced oxygen content in the oil was observed (absence of C–O) under CO2 conditions. The co‐gasification of OG with high ash coal in the fuel mixture resulted in the heating value of syngas as high as 8.56 MJ nm−3. The calorific value of the syngas increases by 51.8% when OG content in the fuel mixture is increased to 20% because hydrocarbon content in syngas increases by 8.73 times. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that by adding OG, gasification initiated 35°C earlier as compared to HAC. The solid residue obtained by co‐gasification contains calcium in the form of CaO and CaCO3 due to COVID‐19 waste. The global warming potential of the syngas generated is reduced by 32% with the addition of OG to 20%.