Combustible and incombustible speciation of Cl and S in various components of municipal solid waste

Chlorine (Cl) and sulfur (S) in municipal solid waste (MSW) are important reactive elements during combustion. They generate the acidic pollutants HCl and SOx, and, furthermore, produce and suppress organic chlorinated compounds. Nevertheless, few practical reports about Cl and S content in MSW have been published. In combustion and recycling processes, both combustible Cl and S, and incombustible Cl and S species are equally important. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study about combustible and incombustible Cl and S in MSW components, including kitchen garbage, paper, textiles, wood and leaves, plastics and small chips. By integrating this collected data with data about MSW composition, not only the overall content of Cl and S in MSW, but also the origins of both combustible and incombustible Cl and S were estimated. The average Cl content in bulk MSW was 3.7 g/kg of raw MSW, of which 2.7 and 1.0 g/kg were combustible and incombustible, respectively. The Cl contribution from plastics was 76% and 27% with respect to combustible and incombustible states. The average S content in bulk MSW was 0.81 g/kg of raw MSW, of which 0.46 g/kg was combustible and 0.35 g/kg was incombustible. Combustible S was mainly due to synthetic textiles, while incombustible S was primarily from paper.