ISSN: 2578-4994
Authors: Shu Lung Kuo, Ching-Lin Ho* and I Chan Kao
This study mainly used waste oil sludge with different agricultural wastes to conduct experiments. Suitable raw materials were selected to create refuse derived fuel-5 (RDF-5) for a blending and testing analysis to explore the optimal proportions. Different hardeners were added to reduce the processing costs, improve the RDF grain quality, and attain homogeneous fuel. The results revealed that when the oil sludge quantity was too much to be adsorbed by the mushroom grow bag, it could not be granulated. When the proportion of added oil sludge was fixed, adding a higher proportion of polyethylene (PE) increased the particle granulation ratio and completeness. In addition, the particle hardness could be enhanced. If the proportion of added PE was overly high, the material easily aggregated at the melting point (120–130°C), which often caused clogging of the granulation machine dies, thereby overheating and stopping the machine. Results of the calorific value analysis revealed that the calorific values of RDFs of Groups A and B were between 5,214 cal/g and 7,891 cal/g. The calorific values were comparable to that of commonly used solid fuels, indicating that the proposed RDF could be used as an excellent substitute. RDF could be used alone for boilers as the main fuel or used in mixture with other fuels. So far, biomass energy development includes options more than biodiesel and bioalcohol. Considering technological thresholds, market size, and completeness of the upstream and downstream supply chain, this study argued that RDF-5 has many advantages as an energy option and is worthy of biomass energy practitioners’ consideration.
Keywords: RDF-5; Mushroom Bag; Oil Sludge; Hardener
