Origins of chlorine in MSW and RDF: species and analytical methods

Abstract

The chlorine content of municipal solid waste (MSW) and refuse derived fuel (RDF) plays a dominant role in combustion processes. In order to prevent operational problems, such as high temperature corrosion, quality assured analytical methods for the determination of the chlorine concentration are necessary. This paper presents results of the chlorine content of the main components of untreated municipal solid waste. Various analytical methods have been compared with samples with a differing matrix and chlorine speciation. The comparison intends to not only estimate overall content of chlorine in mixed waste, but also to clarify chlorine species/origin in various components which have further influence on chlorine thermal behavior during combustion.