Torrefaction for Increasing Gross Heat of Combustion of Medical Cotton Waste

Abstract: Cotton is a very popular material that has its own stock market. There are huge amounts of cotton waste and medical cotton waste that can be treated and become a considerable source of energy, instead of buried with other waste in the land-field or incinerated. The purpose of this study was first to examine and then to maximize, if possible, the efficiency of pretreated cotton waste, regarding its gross heat of combustion. More specifically we used a blast furnace in order to torrefy cotton. The cotton torrefaction was achieved through a non-isothermal heating up to 340 oC for 20-50 minutes. The effect of pretreatment conditions, i.e., reaction time and temperature, were investigated using a calorimeter. The diagrams show the heat energy curve and how gross heat of combustion is affected from the conditions applied.