Incineration System Research Articles

THERMAL ENERGY EVALUATION OF THE INCINERATOR MEDICAL WASTE

The global warming problem and the rising cost of energy has raised the interest in the application of alternative energy for the energy system to increase efficiency and to reduce the emission of pollution. However, the key challenge of the energy systems was to find an appropriate way to decrease energy loss and increase the efficiency of energy transfer. This research aimed to evaluate the thermal energy obtained and heat loss from the incinerator waste installed in Suphan Buri Province, Thailand. The incinerator system composed of 6 sections: the first section was a waste hopper and feeder, the second section was the rotary kiln primary, the third section was a secondary chamber, the fourth section was the ash cooling conveyer, the fifth section was cyclone and the sixth section was a stack. This study applied 200 kilograms of waste and 200 liters of diesel oils as raw materials for the incineration process. The results showed that the total flow rate from overall input materials was 875 kilograms per hour and the total heat rate from overall inputs was 3,503,032.25° Kelvin. In terms of heat losses, total heat losses from the surface were 2,789,424.75 ° Kelvin while overall heat losses were 3,503,032.25 ° Kelvin. The results showed high thermal efficiency and suitable for application in the engineering process.

Theoretical and Experimental Verification of Rheological Characteristics of High Viscosity Municipal Sludge

After upgrading the wastewater treatment standard, the effluent quality reached the first class A standard by strengthening the process optimization of biological dephosphorization and denitrification. Taking the sludge treatment project of Shanghai Bamboo Garden as an example, the sludge composition from the fourth plant is compared with the weighted value of the sludge before the upgrading of the standard, and the sludge element content is obviously increased and the sludge viscosity is increased. By kinexus lab+ series of rotary rheometer to test the viscosity of the sample sludge, it is concluded that the viscosity zone of the sample sludge is between 45% and 55% solid content. The rheological test of sludge characterization-viscosity-thixotropy and stacking test standard shows that the viscous zone of sludge is about 40% or more. Herschel-Bulkley model is basically suitable to describe the rheology of sludge in this sample when the solid content is more than 44%. To avoid the sludge viscous zone is the key to design the sludge transport system and the subsequent drying incineration system process parameters in the sludge treatment project of Shanghai Bamboo Garden.

Environmental and energy performances of the Italian municipal solid waste incineration system in a life cycle perspective.

The environmental and energy performances of the Italian municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) system was investigated by a life cycle assessment approach. On average the 39 MSWIs operating in Italy in 2018 treated about 6,000,000 Mg of residual municipal solid waste (RMSW) recovering on average from 448 kWh Mg-1 RMSW to 762 kWh Mg-1 RMSW of electricity and from 732 kWh Mg-1 RMSW to 1102 kWh Mg-1 RMSW of heat. The average quantity of CO2eq Mg-1 RMSW emitted ranged from about 800 up to about 1000 depending on the size and on the energy recovery scheme of the facility. Avoided impacts (i.e., negative values) were detected for the kg PM2,5eq Mg-1 RMSW and for human health (disability-adjusted life year Mg-1 RMSW). The determination of the hybrid primary energy index (MJ Mg-1 RMSW) indicated that mainly large size facilities and those operating according to a power and heat energy recovery scheme are effectively able to replace other primary energies by the exploitation of the lower heating values of the RMSW.

An Application of Interval Valued Fuzzy Matrix in Modeling Clinical Waste Incineration Process

This paper exploits an interval valued fuzzy matrix in representing combustion process of clinical waste incineration system which previously modelled by using Fuzzy Autocatalytic Set (FACS). We defined a membership degree of interval-valued fuzzy edge connectivity using concept of infimum and supremum and proposed a mapping from FACS of clinical waste incineration process to an interval valued fuzzy matrix of FACS. Basic characteristics of the matrix are observed and some proven theorems are derived.

Design of a small scale fluidized-bed incinerator for MSW with ability to utilize HHO as auxiliary fuel

Waste incineration has become a mature technology and widely accepted due to its environment friendliness, easy operation and ability to reduce more than 95% mass fraction. There are some inherent limitations associated with incinerators such as high fuel consumption and cite feasibility. In this study, we propose a novel design concept of small scale fluidized bed incinerator for household use, with the ability to consume brown’s gas (HHO) as primary fuel for incinerate waste. In principle, the HHO gas generated through photovoltaic (PV) integrated water electrolysis system would be feed from the bottom to provide heat energy to the waste. Theoretical design of fluidized bed type incinerator has been presented with water electrolyzer system. It was calculated that 150 lph of hydrogen is required for this proposed incinerator system which can handle 5 kg of waste.

Applicability of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) system integrated with pre-drying or torrefaction for flue gas waste heat recovery

A system based on pre-drying and torrefaction of raw municipal solid waste (MSW) is proposed in this study to minimize the amount of pollutants and improve the efficiency of the system by recovering flue gas waste heat as heat source for the pre-drying or torrefaction stage. A steady-state model integrated with the mass residual rate and energy coefficient of this novel system is established to evaluate the effect of pretreating solid waste on the performance of the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) system comprehensively. Thermodynamic calculation results show that the low heating value (LHV) of the MSW is increased to approximately 9000 kJ/kg at a torrefaction temperature of 533 K for 30 min; the combustion flue gas temperature is approximately 1150 K, thereby satisfying the incineration temperature requirement. Further, pre-drying is conducive for improving the energy utilisation rate; for torrefaction, when the mass residual rate of MSW is greater than 39.25%, the energy coefficient of the pretreatment exceeds 1. For the pre-processing method involving torrefaction, the mass loss and LHV improvement after torrefaction should be considered to select the appropriate torrefaction conditions. This study supplies effective and feasible reference for developing higher performance MSWI system with pre-drying or torrefaction as the pretreatment.

Computational simulation of incineration of chemically and biologically contaminated wastes

ABSTRACT This paper describes the modeling approach and example results for a newly introduced computational simulation tool to evaluate waste destruction in thermal incineration systems. The Configured Fireside Simulator (CFS) is a software simulator, originally developed for the Department of Defense to evaluate operations of the chemical demilitarization incinerators processing the chemical warfare agent stockpile of the US. The software was later adapted for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide for the ability to run “what if” scenarios of waste streams contaminated with chemical/biological (CB) threat agents in four specific incinerators, including the EPA’s pilot-scale Rotary Kiln Incinerator Simulator (RKIS) facility, as well as three commercial incinerators based on design criteria for actual operating facilities. These commercial incinerators include a Medical/Pathological Waste Incinerator, a Hazardous Waste Burning Rotary Kiln, and a Waste-to-Energy Stoker-type combustor. The CFS uses three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics coupled with detailed chemical kinetic data for destruction of chemical warfare agents, coupled with kinetic data for biological agent destruction derived from bench- and pilot-scale experiments to predict the way agent-containing materials will behave under full-scale combustion conditions in several different incinerator types. The objective of this paper is to describe the CFS software, how it works, and potential applications of this software to real-world situations. This software could be a valuable tool for researchers, regulators, and industry to evaluate potential operating conditions to help guide testing activities and develop operational scenarios for difficult-to-manage waste streams. Although this software has been under development for several years, this paper represents the software’s first introduction to the scientific community in the peer-reviewed literature. Implications: Adapting the Configured Fireside Simulator that was originally developed for the Department of Defense to evaluate operations of the chemical demilitarization incinerators processing the chemical warfare agent stockpile of the US to provide for the ability to run “what if” scenarios on civilian waste streams contaminated with CB agents is a useful tool for national preparedness. Such a model could be used in planning and response efforts to provide a better understanding of incineration capacity, development of feed strategies, and assessment of throughput limitations for CB incidents as well as other difficult-to-test waste streams and contaminants.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances thermal destruction at water resource recovery facilities: A state of the science review.

Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a recalcitrant group of chemicals and can be found throughout the environment. They often collect in wastewater systems with virtually no degradation prior to environmental discharge. Some PFAS partitions to solids captured in wastewater treatment which require further processing. Of all the commonly applied solids treatment technologies, incineration offers the only possibility to completely destroy PFAS. Little is known about the fate of PFAS through incineration, in particular, for the systems employed in water resource recovery facilities (WRRF). This review covers available research on the fate of PFAS through incineration systems with a focus on sewage sludge incinerators. This research indicates that at least some PFAS destruction will occur with incineration approaches used at WRRFs. Furthermore, PFAS in flue gas, ash, or water streams used for incinerator pollution control may be undetectable. Future research involving full‐scale fate studies will provide insight on the efficacy of PFAS destruction through incineration and whether other compounds of concern are generated.Practitioner points Thermal processing is the only commercial approach available to destroy PFAS.Thermal degradation conditions required for destruction of PFAS during incineration processes are discussed.Fate of PFAS through water resource recovery facility incineration technologies remains unclear.Other thermal technologies such as smoldering combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction provide promise but are in developmental phases.

A new approach in treating industrial hazardous wastes for energy generation and thermochemical hydrogen production

Abstract A new configuration of using hazardous industrial waste incineration system for energy generation and hydrogen production is proposed in this study. A heat recovery steam generator is used to generate steam for the double-stage Rankine cycle for electrical power generation. The additional heat from the incineration unit exhaust gas are employed to generate steam for the thermochemical Cu-Cl cycle. The CO2 emissions carried by the incineration reactor exhaust gases are captured using aqueous ammonia-based carbon capturing system. The Aspen Plus V9 software is employed for the designed system simulation. Numerous sensitivity studies are undertaken to investigate each subsystem of the proposed hazardous industrial waste incineration system. The proposed system generates 7.08 MW of electrical output and hydrogen production flowrate of 12.6 kmol/h. The exergetic and energetic efficiencies of the designed system are found to be 43.3% and 39.1%. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis results are presented and discussed. The incineration plants treating the waste and converting waste into energy can be substituted for conventional energy production and this proposed environmentally benign integrated system will resolve environmental problems by employing the hazardous industrial waste to the new configuration of the incineration process for producing hydrogen and power with zero CO2 emissions.

THERMODYNAMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARATIVE INVESTIGATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF LANDFILL VS. INCINERATION FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE: A CASE STUDY IN VARAMIN, IRAN

Waste to energy (WtE) introduces an appropriate solution for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and greenhouse gas emission reduction. In this study, for Varamin MSW management, a gas turbine plant with heat recovery unit that is fed by landfill gas (LFG) and combined heat and power (CHP) incineration plant is investigated and compared as two WtE systems to reveal the best plant effectively. Exergy and environmental analyses of two systems are performed. Moreover, the effects of key parameters as decision variables on the energy and exergy efficiencies are identified by sensitive analysis of both systems. Multi-objective optimization of thermal and exergy efficiencies are then done by using Genetic Algorithm (GA) for each studied system. As a result, Furnace in incineration system and Combustion Chamber in landfill system have the most exergy destruction rate. Also, optimization results show that thermal and exergy effectiveness for landfill system are improved by 7.01% and 6.53% respectively; these values for incineration system are calculated to be 45.35% and 92.75% respectively.

Review: Medical Waste Management for Covid19

Introduction: Medical waste generation during the Covid19 pandemic increased by around 30%. Sources of medical waste generation are health care activities. If medical waste is not appropriately managed, it can pollute the environment and disturb health. The purpose of the review is to identify the potential of medical waste in health-care facilities in Indonesia when the Covid19 pandemic and to review medical waste management in Indonesia. The analysis uses a systematic literature review. Discussion: The potential of medical waste during the Covid19 epidemic is infectious waste (PPE wastes), sharps waste (syringes), chemical waste (expired medicines), and pharmaceutical waste (the used alcohol bottles when rapid tests). The hazardous waste management system refers to Government Regulation No. 101 year 2014 about Management of Hazardous and Toxic Waste and and Regulation of Minister of Environment and Forestry of Republic Indonesia No. P.56/MenlhkSetjen/2015 about Procedures and Technical Requirements for Waste Management Hazardous and Toxic From the Health Service Facilities. Infectious waste, sharps waste, chemical waste, and pharmaceutical waste are destroyed with incinerators. Syringe residues were damaged with a needle shredder. Residue and incineration ashes are processed using solidification. If the heavy metal content under the quality standards, then the waste can be landfill. Conclusion: The potential of medical waste during the Covid19 pandemic is infectious waste, sharps waste, chemical waste, and pharmaceutical waste. Medical waste generated must be appropriately managed. Proper medical waste management can prevent environmental pollution and the spread of disease. One of the processing of potential medical waste is incineration. The incineration system produces residue and ash waste that must further be handled so that it does not pollute the environment and disturb health.

Numerical investigation of MSW combustion influenced by air preheating in a full-scale moving grate incinerator

Air preheating is generally used to improve moisture evaporation and boiler efficiency in waste incineration systems. This study employs FLIC-FLUENT coupling procedure to investigate the influence of primary air preheating on municipal solid waste (MSW) combustion characteristics in a moving grate incinerator. The MSW properties, incinerator specifications and operating parameters were acquired from an incineration plant in Zhejiang Province, China. The MSW combustion modelling was carried out with air preheating temperatures in a range of 453–513 K. The simulation results were compared with measurements data from the incinerator and literature. It was found that higher primary air temperature caused a larger layer of evaporation at the bottom of the bed. When the evaporation layer comes in contact with the ignition front, the remaining mass burned instantaneously, resulting in a faster complete combustion. Peak bed temperature was observed during the complete combustion, it was highly influenced by heat flux from the primary air and the combustion. Higher primary air temperature also resulted in increased devolatilization rate and peak flame temperature. The peak flame temperature reached 1961 K under 513 K air temperature. Boiler efficiency increased by 5.6% when remaining flue gas heat was utilized to preheat the air to 453 K compared to the unutilized. However, high primary air temperatures also have negative influences, for example, accelerated thermal NOx generation and locally high bed temperature. Condensation of acid gases could also occur if the remaining flue gas heat was over-utilized. Therefore, the determination of the suitable primary air temperature is essential.

Formation and inhibition of Polychlorinated-ρ-dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans from mechanical grate municipal solid waste incineration systems

This study is carried out in two full-scale (300 t/d) municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI), focusing on the inhibition effect on polychlorinated-ρ-dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) formation by the Sulfur-, Phosphorus-, and Nitrogen-containing inhibitors. The inhibition efficiencies of total PCDD/F range from 45.77 % to 58.55 %, meanwhile, from 50.1 % to 57.6 % for toxic PCDD/F. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results conduct the inhibition effect on the three key factors of PCDD/F formation: catalytic metal, carbon source and chlorine source. Inhibitors can increase the proportion of inorganic chlorine form at the ash surface. The changes of sulfur and phosphorus forms support the inhibition mechanisms of PCDD/F. De novo synthesis is the stable inhibition pathway in this study, meanwhile, the chlorophenols-route and dibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran chlorination also work in some tests. The results are the basics for further industrial application of PCDD/F inhibitors and benefit in controlling the PCDD/F emission from MSWI.

Sustainability assessment of healthcare waste treatment systems using surrogate weights and PROMETHEE method.

This study aims to assess the sustainability of healthcare waste treatment systems using surrogate weights and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE). For this purpose, ten treatment systems, including land disposal, incineration and non-incineration systems, were evaluated in terms of environmental, financial, social, and technical criteria. Firstly, fifteen reputed experts assigned their preferred rankings for the groups of criteria and the sub-criteria. The conversion of these rankings into numerical weights was performed using the SR function, which is an additive combination of Sum and Reciprocal weight functions. Secondly, the alternatives' performance with regards to each criterion allowed PROMETHEE to generate the outranking flows for each alternative. The complete ranking revealed that the rotary kiln (A4) is the most sustainable system followed by steam disinfection (A8), dry heat disinfection and microwave disinfection. However, the municipal landfill is the least sustainable system, while chemical disinfection is ranked in the penultimate position of sustainability. The partial ranking indicated that A4 and A8 are incomparable and both were ranked as most sustainable. Therefore, the sustainability of a system cannot be assessed properly without the exact specification of the system itself. In addition, it is preferable to act on the criteria that affect negatively the system to improve its performance.

Reduction of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans by Chemical Inhibition and Physisorption from a Municipal Solid Waste Incineration System

This study was based on a full-scale (450 t/d) circulating fluidized bed (CFB) municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI), focusing on the reduction of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in flue gas and ash affected by S-, P-, and N-containing inhibitors and a fabric filter with active carbon injection (FF + ACI). The inhibitors injection coupled with FF + ACI effectively reduced total PCDD/F by 98.81% and toxic PCDD/F by 99.32% from flue gas, ensuring PCDD/F emissions lower than the national standard (0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3). The inhibitors reduced 43.51% PCDD/F in flue gas and 34.88% PCDD/F in ash, and the inhibition effect on PCDD/F formation pathways follows the order of chlorophenol (CP) route formation > de novo synthesis > dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran (DD/F) chlorination. Sulfonating phenolic precursors is an important inhibition pathway of PCDD/F in this study. FF + ACI could effectively remove the total concentration of PCDD/F in flue gas by 97.58% and 97.92% with and without inhibitors injection, respectively, and the removal efficiencies on toxic PCDD/F are both 98.67% for two conditions. Additionally, FF + ACI had a weaker RE on congeners with two or more groups of chlorine substituents at the meta-position than those with fewer groups. The results will pave the way for further industrial optimized designs of air pollution control devices to control the PCDD/F emission from MSWI.

Suggested guidelines for emergency treatment of medical waste during COVID-19: Chinese experience.

During the period of COVID-19, the medical waste disposal capacity is seriously inadequate. The main technical process of the municipal solid waste incineration system is the same as that of the medical waste incineration system. Under the conditions of optimizing the technological process, improving the supporting facilities, and controlling the co-processing ratio, the municipal solid waste incinerator (grate furnace) co-processing medical waste is feasible. Some suggested guidelines for emergency treatment of medical waste from COVID-19 have been provided by China.

Identification of effective factors to select energy recovery technologies from municipal solid waste using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM): A review of thermochemical technologies

Thermochemical technologies used to burn municipal solid waste are one of the relatively new and appropriate methods for waste management. By burning waste, heat and gases have arisen which can be used as the energy source to generate electricity. Due to the high cost, pollution emissions and diversity of such power plants, comprehensive studies are required. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the thermal methods in the field of waste management and to optimum for the most suitable methods. The selected thermochemical technologies include incineration, gasification, plasma, and pyrolysis. Data gathering was done through a questionnaire completed by experts. The decision-making models based on the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods are proposed to select the best thermochemical technology by the technical, economic, and environmental criteria. Ultimately, the environmental criteria (0.355), economic criteria (0.338) and, technical criteria (0.307) were introduced as the most effective criterion in choosing thermal methods respectively. The results of both AHP and TOPSIS models showed that the plasma method is the optimal thermochemical technology in terms of three existing criteria. Incinerator, gasification, and pyrolysis systems were ranked next.

Partitioning and removal behaviors of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PCNs in a modern municipal solid waste incineration system

An extensive evaluation on a modern full-scale municipal solid waste incineration system was conducted for characterizing the distribution of highly toxic chlorinated aromatics, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), and their corresponding mass fluxes in post combustion zone. It was found that the flue gas/fly ash partitioning behaviors of chlorinated aromatics could be essentially described by their octanol-air partition coefficients (KOA) and strongly affected by the flue gas temperature. Above 93% of chlorinated aromatics formed in boiler section was partitioned into the flue gas and transported into the subsequent flue gas cleaning system, in which above 92% of Cl3–8DDs, Cl3–7DFs, Cl5–10Bs and Cl4–8Ns in flue gas was removed by the discharge of fly ash. The results of mass flux calculation indicated that the memory effect in flue gas cleaning system remarkably elevated the emission levels of chlorinated aromatics, especially the less chlorinated ones. The memory effect should mainly result from the direct chlorination mechanism mediated by the deposited particles. In addition, activated carbon injection could cause an obvious increase in PCBs emission. The obtained results provided some important implications for further reducing the emission of highly toxic chlorinated aromatics.

Parameter design of rotary kiln incinerator and application analysis in engineering cases

In this paper, according to the type and scale of hazardous waste incineration, process selection, design of rotary kiln incinerator, and the engineering principle and performance characteristics of rotary kiln incinerator system are analysed, and the proposed method is verified by practical engineering examples. The results showed that the temperature of rotary kiln is controlled at about 850 °C, the residence time of hazardous waste in rotary kiln is about 60min, the rotating speed is 0.88r/min, and the inclination angle is 1.75. The temperature of the second combustion chamber is more than 1100 °C, and the residence time of flue gas in the second combustion chamber is more than 2S. After continuous incineration, the reduction rate of slag ignition is less than 5%, the removal rate of fly ash is more than 99.99%, and the flue gas is discharged up to the standard.

Turning Food Waste into Value-Added Resources: Current Status and Regulatory Promotion in Taiwan

Food waste is daily generated in significant amounts around the world, implying the depletion of natural resources and the emergence of environmental pollution issues if discarded without valorization or utilization. In this regard, food waste management poses an important challenge in the circular society. Based on the official statistics and the national laws and regulations database in Taiwan, this study analyzed the on-line reporting amounts of collected food waste since it has been officially designated as one of the mandatory recyclable wastes. Furthermore, the regulatory measures for promoting food waste utilization in Taiwan were addressed to valorize it for the production of value-added resources and also prevent the spread of African swine flu. It showed that the collected amounts of food waste from residential and commercial sectors in Taiwan significantly increased from about 168,600 metric tons in 2003 to the maximal amount (i.e., 834,500 metric tons) in 2012, reflecting the regulatory promulgation and promotional measures. Based on the joint efforts by the central governing authorities (including the Environmental Protection Administration, the Council of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs), this study also examined the regulatory promotions for utilizing food waste as an available resource for the production of value-added resources (i.e., organic fertilizer, pig feed, and bioenergy). Through the central governing authority, local governments, and private recyclers, about 2000 metric tons of food waste in Taiwan was recycled every day, which can not only mitigate the pressure on waste incineration and disposal systems, but also conform to the trends of environmental sustainability and circular bioeconomy. Therefore, the Taiwan government is currently supporting the establishment of anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting plants for turning food waste into organic fertilizers and biogas-to-electricity because they have been evaluated as the best options of food waste valorization.