Overview of Superheated Steam Decomposition Technology for Municipal Solid Waste

As a core technical unit for the "Harmless Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste" project under the Ministry of Science and Technology's "13th Five-Year Plan" Key R&D Program, Henan Jufeng has conducted technical upgrades and improvements based on its subcritical water hydrolysis technology. The company successfully developed organic waste superheated steam decomposition technology. This technology can convert various organic wastes (such as food waste, animal manure, sludge, rural straw, industrial organic waste, municipal solid waste, garden waste, wet market waste, and other organic wastes) into organic fuel coal and combustible gas via superheated steam decomposition, achieving the goals of "zero pollution, harmlessness, and complete utilization."

Superheated steam decomposition technology for municipal solid waste is an emerging harmless treatment method. It is a technical upgrade from subcritical water hydrolysis technology. Its principle is similar to subcritical hydrolysis but involves modifying the decomposition conditions by lowering the operating pressure (0.02-0.3 MPa) and raising the decomposition temperature to between 300-800°C (typically above the critical temperature point, with working pressure significantly lower than subcritical pressure). Under oxygen-free or low-oxygen conditions, it utilizes high-temperature superheated steam (typically 300-800°C, pressure 0.02-0.3 MPa) as both a heat carrier and reaction medium (Note: In superheated steam decomposition, temperature and pressure are inversely related; e.g., lower pressure requires higher temperature, and vice versa). This promotes the thermochemical decomposition of organic matter within the municipal solid waste. The resulting products are the same as from subcritical hydrolysis: organic matter can be thermally decomposed into reusable resources such as combustible gas, water, carbon dioxide, organic fuel coal, and fertilizer. Simultaneously, harmful substances are also decomposed into harmless products, thereby achieving the resource-oriented treatment of waste.

Superheated steam decomposition technology enables efficient and clean continuous conversion and decomposition of organic waste by utilizing heating steam characterized by low pressure and high temperature. As it can operate under atmospheric pressure, its safety and stability are very high. Its core advantages lie in: ① Strong environmental friendliness (low emissions, no dioxin generation); ② High degree of resource recovery (syngas can be used for energy generation); ③ Broad system adaptability (capable of processing different waste types). It represents a new path for municipal solid waste treatment that is clean, efficient, safe, and resource-recovering, particularly suitable for small-to-medium scale, distributed scenarios. With the maturation of superheated steam decomposition technology and policy support, it is expected to play a significant role in areas such as urban/rural solid waste treatment, biomass energy conversion, and carbon emission reduction in the future.😂

The future landscape will involve complementary multiple technologies. The current model dominated by waste-to-energy incineration is gradually transitioning towards being replaced by new resource-recovery technologies like subcritical water hydrolysis and superheated steam decomposition, which enable the harmless and high-value conversion of specific organic waste streams.

Photos of Some Equipment for Municipal Solid Waste Superheated Steam Decomposition