Characteristics of Flame Front Propagation in a Fixed Bed of Marine Plastic SRF Cofired with Wood Pellets

Marine waste plastic is a source of a variety of health and safety concerns in marine ecosystems. One disposal option for marine waste plastic is pelletization and subsequent combustion for energy recovery. However, with plastic pellets in a fixed bed, which is widely employed in waste combustion processes, it is difficult to achieve stable and continuous propagation of the ignition front from the surface to the bottom of the bed because of the melting of the plastic and subsequent blockage of air passages. This study investigated the fixed bed combustion of plastic pellets with the cofiring of wood pellets at different cofiring ratios and airflow rates. It was found that the steady propagation of the ignition front can be achieved via cofiring with at least 20 wt.% wood pellets. The burning rate was approximately 123 kg/m²h, and this figure can be used to determine the minimum area required for the design of the moving grate.