Combustion Air Pre-heating from Ash Sensible Heat in Municipal Waste Incineration Systems

Abstract

Heat recovery from bottom ash is more important in municipal waste combustion systems than in any other solid fuel combustion since almost 50% of it comprises of non-combustibles. In this study, an ash cooling system using air as the cooling medium has been modeled for pre-heating the combustion air. Air cooling has several advantages over water cooling methods. The study involves modeling using Gambit tool and is solved with the fluent solver. Municipal solid waste incineration systems have the advantage of being located near the waste collection area apart from the high volume reduction ratio. Improvements in the emission control systems and combustion technology can make incineration a highly feasible disposal method. Low furnace temperature due to heat losses through fuel moisture loss and ash sensible heat loss has been a disadvantage with these systems. In this study, a small percentage of the combustion air is pre-heated in a non-contact type heat exchanger and its effect on the available energy of combustion gases at the evaporator outlet is studied. The study is performed for two different waste samples. Results indicate significant increase in available energy at the evaporator outlet and better relative performance for the lower grade fuel. A comparison is made with similar methods reported in the literature along with a brief discussion on the methodologies adopted. The results confirm the importance of installing ash sensible heat recovery mechanism for waste incineration systems as well as the feasibility of the air based method.