An experimental investigation of the combustion performance of human faeces

Somorin, Tosin and Kolios, Athanasios J. and Patchigolla, Kumar and Wagland, Stuart T. and Fidalgo, Beatriz and Jurado, Nelia and Hanak, Dawid P. and Manovic, Vasilije and Parker, Alison and McAdam, Ewan and Williams, Leon and Tyrrel, Sean and Cartmell, Elise (2016) An experimental investigation of the combustion performance of human faeces. Fuel, 184. pp. 780-791. ISSN 0016-2361

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    Abstract

    Poor sanitation is one of the major hindrances to the global sustainable development goals. The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is set to develop affordable, next-generation sanitary systems that can ensure safe treatment and wide accessibility without compromise on sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. Energy recovery from human excreta is likely to be a cornerstone of future sustainable sanitary systems. Faeces combustion was investigated using a bench-scale downdraft combustor test rig, alongside with wood biomass and simulant faeces. Parameters such as air flow rate, fuel pellet size, bed height, and fuel ignition mode were varied to establish the combustion operating range of the test rig and the optimum conditions for converting the faecal biomass to energy. The experimental results show that the dry human faeces had a higher energy content (∼25 MJ/kg) than wood biomass. At equivalence ratio between 0.86 and 1.12, the combustion temperature and fuel burn rate ranged from 431 to 558 °C and 1.53 to 2.30 g/min respectively. Preliminary results for the simulant faeces show that a minimum combustion bed temperature of 600 ± 10 °C can handle faeces up to 60 wt.% moisture at optimum air-to-fuel ratio. Further investigation is required to establish the appropriate trade-off limits for drying and energy recovery, considering different stool types, moisture content and drying characteristics. This is important for the design and further development of a self-sustained energy conversion and recovery systems for the NMT and similar sanitary solutions.

    Author(s):Somorin, Tosin ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5466-5970, Kolios, Athanasios J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-641X, Patchigolla, Kumar, Wagland, Stuart T., Fidalgo, Beatriz, Jurado, Nelia, Hanak, Dawid P., Manovic, Vasilije, Parker, Alison, McAdam, Ewan, Williams, Leon, Tyrrel, Sean and Cartmell, Elise
    Item type:Article
    ID code:65017
    Keywords:combustion, faecal biomass, nano membrane toilet, non-sewered sanitary systems, smouldering, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering, Chemical Engineering(all), Fuel Technology, Energy Engineering and Power Technology, Organic Chemistry
    Subjects:Technology > Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
    Technology > Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
    Department:Faculty of Engineering > Chemical and Process Engineering
    Faculty of Engineering > Naval Architecture, Ocean & Marine Engineering
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:02 Aug 2018 15:11
    Last modified:16 Oct 2019 03:02
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/65017
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