Environmental impact evaluation and improvement measure of incineration plant by life cycle assessment

Abstract

This study evaluated the direct and indirect environmental impacts of various unit operations of a industrial waste incineration plant by using the life cycle assessment tool and reviewed the improvement plan. During the incineration process, the direct environmental impact was decreased with decrease in emission of various air pollutants by incorporating an air pollution prevention facilities. However, an increase in indirect environmental impacts was observed as a consequence of resources and energy of consumption at the various operational facilities. Consequently, quantitative direct and indirect impact were 89.1%, 10.9%, respectively. The environmental impact analysis of system revealed the highest impact of incineration followed by the impacts of other unit processes such as semidry reactor, and bag-filter. The various air pollutants and ashes generated during the incineration process caused the most significant environmental impact. Among the various categories of environmental impact, global warming accounted the highest impact(more than 85%) followed by eutrophication, and abiotic depletion. As a result of the avoided impact by the utilization of heat generated during the waste incineration process, using an incineration heat for steam and electricity obtained the impact reduction of 45.5%, 19.8%. So, during siting of new incineration plant, the utilization of steam generated from the waste combustion is highly considered to reduce the environmental impact.