Combustion Characteristics in a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator. 1st Report, Field Test and Computer Simulation for Combustion Characterization.

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate design and operation methods for a municipal solid waste incinerator for complete combustion of flue gas, which is essential for reducing the generation of trace hazardous substances such as dioxins. The combustion conditions of an existing incinerator, therefore, are examined by measuring carbon monoxide concentration as an indicator of complete combustion. The effects of oxygen concentration and combustion gas temperature on gaseous combustion are evaluated. Furthermore, the combustion condition of waste on the fire grate is estimated from the distributions of combustion gas components and temperature measured on the section of the furnace outlet. On the other hand, computer simulation is conducted in terms of gas flow distribution inside the incinerator. The results agree with the measured combustion data to a great extent, indicating that the simulation technique is fairly effective to predict gas flow in an incinerator in the case of combustion modification.