Integrated microwave drying, pyrolysis and gasification for valorisation of organic wastes to syngas

[EN] The development of integrated platforms is desirable in order to improve the efficiency of biorefineries. This study deals with an innovative all-in-one thermochemical process (drying, pyrolysis and gasification) based on the use of microwave energy, which could eliminate the need to pre-dry municipal solid waste in order to produce a high quantity of synthesis gas. Depending on the initial moisture content and pyrolysis time, it is possible to obtain different syngas compositions but only during the first 20 min. Beyond this time the syngas composition remains almost constant. In addition, the moisture content was found to improve the volumetric gas production by almost 50%. The energy consumption of this all-in-one process is discussed by comparing it with the scarce information available in the literature concerning the scaling-up of microwave-assisted processes, which may be more cost-effective at a higher scale.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 311815 (SYNPOL project). D. Beneroso also acknowledges the financial support received from the PCTI and FICYT of the Government of the Principado de Asturias (Spain).Peer reviewe