It is observable that only a small part of chlorine was shifted to condenser water while the total
chlorine in the solid was almost unchanged with increasing water-soluble inorganic chlorine
content. Thus, it can be concluded that no hydrochloric acid was formed; instead, the organic
chlorine was converted to inorganic chlorine.
To explain the conversion phenomenon, one can observe the ash components of raw MSW and
hydrothermal treatment products described in Table 5. It can be seen that the alkali and alkaline
metals were present in raw MSW. Therefore, it is suggested that these substances reacted with
hydrochloric acid, formed by hydrothermal treatment, to produce salt (inorganic chlorine).