NO/SO2/HCl emissions from solid waste combustion via oxygen-carrier-aided combustion in rotary kiln

Abstract

Rotary kiln incineration technology has become an important approach to achieve the harmless, reduced, and resourceful solid waste (SW) due to its wide range of fuel adaptability and high treatment efficiency. SW incineration through oxygen carrier (OC) aided combustion in the rotary kiln shows significant advantages in improving SW conversion and reducing CO emission. However, the impacts of introducing OC into the rotary kiln on the emissions of NO, SO2, and HCl, are still unknown. This research objective was to investigate the effects of OCs on the emission characteristics of NO, SO2, and HCl. Natural manganese and ilmenite ores as OCs, are added to a continuous-feeding rotary kiln during the combustion of biomass SW and hazardous SW. The results show that the introduction of OCs can significantly improve the uniformity of oxygen distribution in the furnace, and promotes the conversion of fuel N to NO. At high temperatures and low oxygen concentrations range, the reduction rate of NO by high-concentration CO or catalytic reduction by char and ash is faster than the oxidation of fuel N by OCs, which decreases NO concentration. Moreover, at high temperatures, when OCs are distributed in the bed of the rotary kiln, the fuel in the oxygen-poor zone can obtain O2 or lattice oxygen from the OCs, which promotes the decomposition and oxidation of S-containing compounds in fuels and increase the SO2 concentration. In addition, OCs in the bed provide more reaction sites for fuel conversion and promote the release of Cl as HCl at high temperatures. Specifically, during the oil sludge combustion at 900 °C, compared with the inert reference case, the addition of ilmenite ore increased the concentrations of NO, SO2, and HCl by 47.44%, 64.87%, and 20.28%, respectively, which is attributed to the better reactivity and redox cycle stability of ilmenite ore. This study highlights the potential of OC-aided combustion in rotary kilns as an approach to regulate SW combustion and offers a foundation for the future related research.