Thermal analysis of the by-products of waste combustion

Abstract

Every year, vast amounts of wastes are produced in households and in industrial facilities. Therefore, waste thermal treatment has become one of the most effective and popular methods of waste disposal and waste management. However, it inevitably leads to the creation of solid by-products, as ash and slag often containing substances which are toxic and harmful for environment. Hence, they must be further processed to be deprived of undesirable properties. In order to effectively bind or neutralize such materials, one should thoroughly know their properties. Unfortunately, they can vary greatly depending on the particular combusted material and combustion system. Yet, the detailed properties of the by-products of waste combustion may be thoroughly examined by means of combined methods of thermal analysis. The results of the research presented in this paper concern the possibility of determining the properties and detailed characteristics of waste combustion by-products by means of the combined techniques of thermal analysis. The examination was conducted on: dust from the boiler, bottom slag and ash, and solid waste from the exhaust gas cleaning. Test samples were obtained from one of the largest hazardous waste incineration plants in Poland. The investigated materials have undergone coupled thermal analysis (mass spectrometer connected with TG and DSC), which allowed for the detailed interpretation of the processes taking place during the examination of their thermal resistance. Moreover, morphology of the waste materials were analysed by SEM. Particle size distribution was determined by means of laser diffraction. Furthermore, content of harmful substances was examined.