Investigation of the Thermal Stability of Abuja’s Municipal Solid Waste as a Renewable Energy Resource

Abstract

Abstract
 The thermal stability of Abuja’s municipal solid waste has been investigated in this study. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses (TGA and DTA) were carried out on the MSW samples from three selected districts of Abuja metropolis under nitrogen atmosphere. The TG curves for samples from Lugbe and Dutse-Alhaji market are observed to have the same thermal behavioural trends which may be due to the presence of structural similarity of substances contained in the two samples compared to the behaviour of sample from Galadimawa district. It was observed that Galadimawa sample exhibited two stages of decomposition while Lugbe and Dutse-Alhaji samples have three main stages of decomposition. This study reveals that Abuja’s MSW have endothermic temperature peaks of 405.75 oC for sample from Lugbe district, 409.51 oC for Galadimawa district sample and 381.42 oC for sample taken from Dutse-Alhaji market, respectively. These values compare well with corresponding values for Nigerian coals (Enugu with 408 oC), thereby showing good thermal stability, and will be better and more economic fuel for energy generation than coal in addition to being renewable.