LAUSR

Abstract This study reports the significant effect of volatile–char interactions on the emission of particulate matter (PM) during the combustion of biosolid chars in drop-tube furnace at 1300 °C under air and oxyfuel conditions. Slow and fast heating chars were prepared from biosolid pyrolysis and then interacted with the volatiles produced in situ from the pyrolysis of polyethylene (PE) and double acid-washed biosolid (DAWB) in a novel two-stage quartz reactor at 1000 °C (limited by the operating temperature of quartz). The results clearly show that under the experimental conditions, the interactions between chars and small non-oxygenated reactive species in both volatiles substantially decrease the yield of PM with aerodynamic diameter