Int. J. Renew. Energy Dev. 2023, 12 (6), 1091-1103 | 1091 https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.2023.56035 ISSN: 2252-4940/© 2023.The Author(s). Published by CBIORE Contents list available at IJRED website International Journal of Renewable Energy Development Journal homepage: https://ijred.undip.ac.id The effect of aeration rate and feedstock density on biodrying performance for wet refuse-derived fuel quality improvement Tanik Itsarathorn a,d,e , Sirintornthep Towprayoon a,e , Chart Chiemchaisri b , Suthum Patumsawad c , Awassada Phongphiphat a,e , Abhisit Bhatsada a,e , Komsilp Wangyao a,e* a The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. b Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand c Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand d SCI ECO Services Co., Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand e Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment (CEE), Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), Bangkok, Thailand. Abstract. This study investigates the effect of aeration rate and feedstock density on the biodrying process to improve the quality of type 2 wet refuse-derived fuel. The aeration rate and feedstock density were varied to investigate these parameters’ effect on the system’s performance. The experiments used 0.3 m 3 lysimeters with continuous negative ventilation and five days of operation. In Experiment A, aeration rates of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 m 3 /kg/day were tested with a feedstock bulk density of 232 kg/m 3 . In Experiment B, the optimum aeration rates determined in Experiment A (0.5 and 0.6 m 3 /kg/day) were used, and the feedstock density was varied (232 kg/m 3 , 250 kg/m 3 , and 270 kg/m 3 ). The results showed that an aeration rate of 0.5 m 3 /kg/day was the most efficient for a feedstock density of 232 kg/m 3 ; when the aeration rate was increased to 0.6 m 3 /kg/day, a feedstock density of 250 kg/m 3 was the most effective. However, a feedstock density of 270 kg/m 3 was not found to be practical for use in the quality improvement system. When the feedstock density is increased, the water in the feedstock and the water resulting from the biodegradation process cannot evaporate due to the feedstock layer’s low porosity, and the system requires an increased aeration rate. Furthermore, the increase in density scaled with increased initial volatile solid content, initial organic content, and initial moisture content, which significantly impacted the final moisture content based on multivariate regression analysis. Keywords: Waste to energy, Refuse-derived fuel, Biodrying index, Temperature integration, Alternative fuel @ The author(s). Published by CBIORE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Received: 2 nd July 2023; Revised: 10 th Oct 2023; Accepted: 20 th Oct 2023; Available online: 23 rd Oct 2023 1. Introduction Nowadays, many essential problems are still existing throughout Thailand’s municipal solid waste (MSW) supply chain. There is no law enforcing the waste generators to separate the waste before disposal. As a result, people have still disposed of their waste without sorting it (Itsarathorn et al. 2022). Moreover, the waste generation rate in 2030 is projected to be 84,070-95,728 ton/day, an approximately 10-25% increase compared to 2018 (Pudcha et al. 2022). Environmental concerns linked to rising emissions have been immensely discussed. It is no longer surprising that global warming is the most critical issue threatening our world today (Adebayo and Akinsola, 2021). The conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into electricity and heat represents a viable approach for waste management and generating renewable energy (Buyukkeskin et al. 2019). There are numerous social and industrial benefits from the waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion * Corresponding author Email: komsilp.wan@kmutt.ac.th (K. Wangyao) process; for example, this approach can help to increase waste management capacity, reduce health and environmental problems, and decrease the usage of imported fossil fuels, thus reducing energy costs for the industrial sector and helping to achieve energy security (Itsarathorn et al. 2022; Munir et al. 2023). In addition, this method can minimize methane generation from landfills, thereby reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016; Tippichai et al. 2023). The cement production process uses fossil fuels as its primary fuel. Coal prices increased from US$178/ton in 2021 to US$400/ton in 2022 (Wulandari, 2022) directly affecting total cement production costs. In addition, cement plants also produce GHG emissions, especially carbon dioxide. These issues have led to a joint commitment by the global industrial sector to reduce GHG emissions. Thailand has set a target to reduce its GHG emissions by 20–25% by 2032 (TCMA, 2016). For the cement industry, the use of alternative fuels is key to solving fuel price problems and achieving GHG emission reduction goals. Research Article