Emission of nitrogen/sulfur pollutants and migration of heavy metals during combustion of oily sludge from the oil refining process in fluidized bed

Abstract

Oily sludge is a kind of hazardous waste due to the enrichment of nitrogen, sulfur, and heavy metals. In this work, the combustion of oily sludge from an oil refining factory in a fluidized bed reactor at 850–1050 °C and 0.8–1.2 excess air ratios were studied, with a focus on emission of nitrogen and sulfur pollutants and migration of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb. The emission characteristics of nitrogen and sulfur pollutants were exhibited through monitoring the flue gas. The migration characteristics of heavy metals were clarified by analyzing their retention in bottom and fly ash. Moreover, the BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction of the heavy metals in bottom ash was also carried out to obtain the migration of heavy metals in different forms. The contents of NOx and SO2 in the flue gas increased with temperature and excess air ratio increasing. High temperature led to less heavy metal retention in the bottom ash. The strong oxidizing atmosphere can weaken the volatilization of heavy metals. The stabilities of the heavy metal in different forms were in the following order: F4 (residual fraction) > F3 (oxidizable fraction) > F2 (reducible fraction) > F1 (exchangeable and acid soluble fraction). F4 was the dominant fraction of heavy metals in the bottom ash. The >60 % content of F3 and F4 led to the high stability of Cu and Ni while the >57 % content of F1 and F2 led to the high volatility of Cd and Pb in bottom ash. The differences in the component map of F1-F4 for the six heavy metals gave rise to their different migration characteristics during combustion.