A Comparison of Fluid Bed and Multiple Hearth Biosolids Incineration

Abstract

Incineration has been used as a disposal method for wastewater treatment biosolids for over sixty years. The first multiple hearth furnace for biosolids incineration was built in 1935 in Dearborn, MI. From that time through the late sixties, the multiple hearth was the thermal technique of choice for biosolids disposal. Today there are still some 150-175 aging multiple hearths in operation in North America. In the seventies, the fluid bed furnace became the preferred thermal technique for biosolids disposal, primarily due to tighter emission regulation and to increasing cost of auxiliary fuel. The first municipal fluid bed was installed in the USA at the Lynnwood, WA wastewater treatment plant in 1962. There have been over 125 fluid bed incinerators installed since then in North America.