Incineration of Wastes

Process, Waste and Energy

 Incineration

What are the

What is components
of a waste
Incinerati
incineration
on? plant?
 Waste Incineration

• Mass burn (Incineration) is a combustion process

• uses an excess of oxygen and/or air to burn SWs
• Used as a treatment for a very wide range of wastes
• Reduce volume and hazard, whilst capturing or
destroying potentially harmful substances.
• A means to enable recovery of the energy, mineral
and/or chemical content from waste.
• Environmentally Responsible waste incineration
 Waste Incineration cont…
A waste incineration plant may include the following operations.
• incoming waste reception
• storage of waste and raw materials
• pretreatment of waste (where required, on-site or off-site)
• loading of waste into the process
• thermal treatment of the waste
• energy recovery (e.g. boiler) and conversion
• flue-gas cleaning
• flue-gas cleaning residue management (from flue-gas treatment)
• flue-gas discharge
• emissions monitoring and control
• waste water control and treatment (e.g. from site drainage, flue-gas
treatment, storage)
• ash/bottom ash management and treatment (arising from the combustion
stage)
• solid residue discharge/disposal.
Example layout of municipal solid
waste incineration plant
 Discussion points: The use of waste
Incinerator components

What is the
What is the What is the
purpose of
purpose of
purpose of energy
gas cleaning
the furnace? recovery
system?
system?
Purpose of Various components of a waste
incinerator
 Pretreatment, storage and handling
techniques

• The different types of wastes that are

incinerated may need different types of
pretreatment, storage and handling operations.
–municipal solid wastes
–hazardous wastes
–sewage sludge
–clinical wastes.
 Pretreatment, storage….
Municipal solid wastes (MSW)
• Collection and pretreatment outside the
MSW incineration plant
• The local collection and pretreatment applied to
MSW can influence the nature of the material
received at the incineration plant.
• The requirements concerning the pretreatment
and other operations should therefore be
consistent with the collection system in place.
 Pretreatment, storage….
• Removing some fractions may have the following
impacts
 Pretreatment, storage….
• Municipal solid waste pretreatment within the
incineration plant
• It is generally necessary to pre-treat (i.e. crush) bulky
waste when its size is greater than that of the feed
equipment to the furnace.
• Another reason for pretreatment is to homogenize the
waste so that it has more consistent combustion
characteristics (e.g. for some wastes with high NCVs).
• This may be achieved by mixing, crushing or shredding
the waste.
• Waste delivery and control
 The Energy recovery stage
• Combustion is an exothermic process and the majority
of the energy produced during combustion is
transferred to the flue-gases.
• Cooling of the flue gas allows:
– The recovery of the energy from the hot flue-gases
and
– Cleaning of flue-gases before they are released to
the atmosphere.
• In plants without heat recovery, the gases are normally
cooled by the injection of water, air, or both.
• In majority of the cases a boiler is used
 Energy Recovery….
In waste incineration plants, the boiler has two
interconnected functions:
• To cool the flue-gases
• To transfer the heat from the flue-gases to
another fluid, usually water which, most
often, is transformed inside the boiler into
steam.
 Discussion

What are the

factors that should
be considered when
designing the
energy cycle of
waste incinerator?
 Factors taken into account when selecting the design
of the energy cycle for waste incineration plants

1. Waste feed
• Quantity and Quality
• Availability, Regularity, Delivery variation with
seasons
• Prospect of change in both the nature and the
quantity of waste
• Effects of waste separation and recycling.
 2. Energy sales possibilities
Heat
• To communities e.g. district heating
• To private industries Heat use e.g.
process use, heating use
• Geographical constraints; delivery
piping feasibility
• Duration of the demand, duration of
the supply contract
• Obligations on the availability of the
supply i.e. is there another source of
heat when the incinerator is shut
down?
• Steam/Hot water conditions: pressure
(normal/minimum), temperature,
flowrate, condensate return or not?
• Season demand curve
• Subsidies can influence economics
significantly
• Heat customer holdings in the plant
financing i.e. security of supply
contract.
Electricity
• National grid or industrial
network (rare), plant self
consumption,
• customer self consumption
(i.e. in a sewage sludge
treating plant)
• Price of electricity
significantly influences
investment
• Subsidies or loans at reduced
rates can increase investment
• Technical requirements:
voltage, power, availability of
distribution network
connection.
 3. Local conditions
• Cooling medium selected: air or water
• Meteorological conditions in time: temperature,
humidity
• Acceptability of a "plume" of water vapour
(cooling tower)
• Availability of cold water source: river or sea
- Temperature, quality of water
- Flow rate which can be pumped according to the season
- Permitted temperature increase.
 4. Combined heat and power
• Apportionment/Distribution according to
the season
• Evolution of the apportionment in future.
5. Other conditions to be considered
• Choice between: Increasing energy output, reducing
investment cost, operational complexity, availability
requirements, etc.
• Acceptable noise level (air coolers)
• Available space
• Architectural Constraints
 Energy efficiency of waste incinerators

It is necessary to standardize:
• Assessment boundaries i.e. what parts of the
process are included/excluded?
• Calculation methods
• How to deal with different energy inputs and
outputs e.g. heat, steam, electricity, primary
fuels, re-circulation of energy produced by the
plant, etc.
 Energy efficiency of waste incinerators
(Cont…)
External factors that affect energy efficiency
1. waste type and nature
The chemical and physical characteristics of the
waste actually arriving at plants or fed to the
incinerator can be influenced by many local
factors including:
• contracts with waste suppliers (e.g. industrial waste
added to MSW)
• on-site or off-site waste treatments or
collection/separation regimes
• market factors that divert certain streams to or from
other forms of waste treatment.
2. Plant location
• Efficiency of a waste incineration process is influenced to a
large extent by the output options for the energy produced
• Processes with the option to supply electricity, steam or
heat will be able to use more of the heat generated during
the incineration for this purpose and will not be required to
cool away the heat, which otherwise results in reductions in
efficiency
• The highest waste energy utilization efficiency can usually be
obtained where the heat recovered from the incineration
process can be supplied continuously as district heat,
process steam etc., or in combination with electricity
generation. However, the adoption of such systems is very
dependent on plant location, in particular the availability
of a reliable user for the supplied energy.
Energy efficiency of waste incinerators
• In order to enable a comparison of energy
performance between waste incinerators, it is
necessary to ensure that these comparisons
are made in a consistent way. In particular it is
necessary to standardize:
• assessment boundaries i.e. what parts of the
process are included/excluded?
• calculation methods
• how to deal with different energy inputs and
outputs e.g. heat, steam, electricity, primary fuels,
re-circulation of energy produced by the plant, etc.
Energy Inputs to waste incinerators
• In addition to the energy in the waste, there are
other inputs to the incinerator that need to be
recognized when considering energy efficiency of
the plant as a whole.
• Electricity, steam/hot water and fuels (conventional
fuels)
Energy outputs to waste incinerators
• Electricity, steam/hot water, fuel( e.g. Syn gas)
 Techniques used to improve Energy
Recovery
1. Waste feed pretreatment
2. Boilers and heat transfer
3. Combustion air preheating
4. Water cooled grates
5. Flue gas condensation
6. Heat pumps
7. Flue gas recirculation
8. Reheating of flue gases to the operation
temperature
9. Plume visibility reduction
10.Steam water cycle improvements
Waste feed pretreatment
o Homogenization
Mixing the waste received at the plant using physical
techniques
– consistent combustion qualities
– Improved process stabilities
– steadier steam parameters
o Extraction/separation
Removal of certain fraction before they sent to a
combustion process
– increased homogeneity
– removal of bulky Items
– Possible use of fluidized beds => improved combustion
efficiency
 Boilers and heat transfer
 Tubular water boilers are generally
used for steam and hot water
generation from the energy
potential of hot flue-gases.
 The steam or hot water is generally
produced in tube bundles in the
flue-gas path. The envelopment of
the furnace, the following empty
passes and the space where
evaporator and super-heater tube
bundles are located are generally
designed with water cooled
membrane walls.
7Feed-water preheating
(Economizer):
6 Evaporation
5 Superheating

Corrosion in boilers
Combustion air preheating
• Preheating the combustion air is particularly
beneficial for assisting the combustion of high
moisture content wastes.
• The pre-warmed air supply dries the waste,
thus facilitating its ignition.
• The supply heat can be taken from the
combustion of the waste by means of heat
exchange systems.
Water cooled grates
• Water cooling of grates is used to protect the grate.
• Water is used as a cooling medium to capture heat
from the burning waste bed and use it elsewhere in
the process.
• The heat removed will be fed back into the process
for preheating the combustion air (primary and/or
secondary air) or heating the condensate.
• Another option is to directly integrate the water
cooling into the boiler circuit, operating it as an
evaporator.
• These grates are applied where the net calorific value
of the waste is higher, typically above 10MJ/kg.
Flue-gas condensation
• Burning wastes, the water content in the flue-gas after
the boiler and economizer normally varies between 10
and 20% by volume, corresponding to water dew
points of about 50 – 60°C.
• During cleaning of the boiler with steam the water
content in the flue-gas increases to about 25%.
• The minimum possible dry gas temperature at this
point is 130 - 140°C using normal boiler construction
material. This temperature is mostly determined in
order to be above the acid dew point, linked to the SO3
content and the H2O content in the flue-gas.
• Lower temperatures result in corrosion.
• Return water from district heating at a temperature of
40 - 70°C can be used directly to cool and condense the
water vapor in the flue-gas.
Heat pump
• Pumps energy from a heat source to a heat sink
• The heat source where low temperature heat energy
is available, for instance in nature- in ambient air,
ground, lake or sea water, or in waste of different
kinds, such as exhaust air, sewage water or general
industrial waste heat.
• The heat sink to which the heat is delivered from the
heat pump and where it can be utilized for heating
e.g. the room air. Other examples of heat sinks are
the water in a radiator system for heating of
buildings, water in a district heating system or tap
water for domestic use.
Flue-gas re-circulation
• A proportion (approx. 10 – 20 % by volume) of
the flue-gases is re-circulated to replace
secondary air feeds in the combustion chamber.
• The recirculation used to reduce heat losses with
the flue-gas and to increase the process energy
efficiency by around 0.75% - 2%
• Lagging of the re-circulation ducting is reported
to provide an effective remedy for corrosion
concerns in this area.
Reheating of flue-gases to the operation temperature
Some air pollution control equipment requires the flue-
gases to be reheated to enable their effective operation.
The energy for heating the gases can be obtained from:
external energy sources (e.g. electrical heating, gas or oil
burners)
Use of process generated heat or power (e.g. steam
bleeds from the turbine).
The use of heat-exchangers to recapture the heat after
the equipment reduces the need for external energy
input.
This is carried out where the next stage of the process
does not require the flue-gas temperature to be as high
as that emitted from the earlier equipment.
Plume visibility reduction
• In some locations sensitivity to visible plumes is high.
Certain techniques (e.g. wet scrubbing) also give rise to
higher levels of moisture in the flue-gas and therefore
increase the possibility of high visibility plumes.
• Lower ambient temperature and higher humidity levels
increase the risk of plume condensation, and hence
visibility.
• Increasing the temperature of the flue-gases provides one
way of reducing plume visibility, as well as improving
dispersion characteristics of the release.
• Dependent on flue-gas moisture content and atmospheric
conditions, plume visibility is greatly reduced above stack
release temperatures
 Steam-water cycle
improvements
• The selection of the steam water cycle will
generally have a much greater impact on
energy efficiency of the installation than
improving individual elements of the system,
and therefore provides the greatest opportunity
for increased use of the energy in the waste.
 Solid waste burning devices
• Incineration Result
• Ash
• Flue gas
• Heat

• Incinerator: a furnace for burning waste

Cooking Stoves in Ethiopia
 Emerging Development (EnDev)
Ethiopia Improved Cook Stoves (ICS)
Period 2006 - 2009 Endev phase I 261,626
disseminated ICS
2010 - 06/2014 EnDev phase II 545,881
disseminated ICS

Areas Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Tigray; some

activity in: Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and
Harari

Partners Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy,

Ethiopian Energy Authority, Ministry of
Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Environment and Forest, non-govern-
mental organizations and others

Stoves in use 486,207 stoves in use

A total of 807,507 disseminated ICS since
2006
 What is the advantage of using ICS?
• Reduce deforestation and indoor air pollution
• Offer more time for education and improved
living conditions especially for women
• Reduces the firewood consumption.
• By facilitating efficient combustion, harmful
emissions, like carbon monoxide and
particular matter are reduced.
• ICS can burn a variety of biomass fuels such as
crop residues and dung.
 Cooking Stoves
Even an open fire is often 90% efficient at the
work of turning wood into energy.
But only a small proportion, from 10% to 40%,
of the released energy makes it into the pot.
Improving combustion efficiency does not
appreciably help the stove to use less fuel.
improving heat transfer efficiency to the pot
makes a large difference.
 Cooking Stoves (cont.…)
Advantages of Open fire
No energy is absorbed into the mass of a stove body.
High-mass stoves can absorb energy that could have
gone into the pot.
The three stone fire can boil water fairly quickly. Fire
hits the bottom and sometimes the sides of the pot,
exposing a lot of the pot to the hot gases.
Sticks can be fed in at the appropriate rate as the tips
burn, assisting complete combustion.
A hot open fire can burn relatively cleanly.
 Cooking Stoves (cont.…)
Every stove suffers because it has some mass
that absorbs heat.
But an improved stove can still achieve better
combustion and fuel efficiency than an open
fire.
 Cooking Stoves (cont.…)
Ten Design Principles
1. Whenever possible, insulate around the fire using lightweight, heat-
resistant materials.
2. Place an insulated short chimney right above the fire.
3. Heat and burn the tips of the sticks as they enter the fire.
4. High and low heat are created by how many sticks are pushed into the
fire.
5. Maintain a good fast draft through the burning fuel.
6. Too little draft being pulled into the fire will result in smoke and excess
charcoal.
7. The opening into the fire, the size of the spaces within the stove through
which hot air flows, and the chimney should all be about the same size.
8. Use a grate under the fire.
9. Insulate the heat flow path.
10. Maximize heat transfer to the pot with properly sized gaps.
 Designing Stoves with Baldwin &
Winiarski
There are three ways to increase convective
heat transfer:
• The flue gases scraping the surface to be heated, should
be as hot as possible.
• The surface area of the heat exchanger should be as
large as possible.
• The velocity of the hot flue gases should be increased
as much as possible. A faster flow over the exterior of
the pot disturbs the stagnant boundary layer of air that
slows effective heating.
Cooking Stoves (cont.…)
Narrowing the gap increases
heat transfer efficiency, doing so
also decreases the flow of air
through the stove.
The size of the gap must
therefore be in relation to the
firepower.
As more wood is burned per
minute, more air is needed to
support both the combustion
and the necessary flow to avoid
back drafting into the room.
 Cooking Stoves (cont.…)
Design Strategies
• Winiarski chooses the size of the fuel
magazine first while Baldwin uses firepower
as the starting point.
• The spaces within the stove are determined
by either of these two primary choices.
Common Furnaces to Burn a Waste
Different design types furnaces for
incineration
–Grate furnace (moving &
fixed grate )
– Rotary kiln
– Fluidized bed
 Moving Grate
• It is most common type of incinerator
• It is durable and allows variations in waste
composition
• A crane is used to feed waste on to the grate
in the furnace
• The grate consists separate adjustable parts
which moves the waste further in drying and
distributing it evenly before incineration.
• Moving grate
 Moving Grate Cont…
• Part of the combustion air (primary combustion
air) is supplied through the grate from below. This
air flow also has the purpose of cooling the grate
itself. Cooling is important for the mechanical
strength of the grate, and many moving grates are
also water-cooled internally.
• Secondary combustion air is supplied into the
boiler at high speed through nozzles over the
grate. It facilitates complete combustion of the
flue gases by introducing turbulence for better
mixing and by ensuring a surplus of oxygen.
 Fixed Grate
• The older and simpler kind of incinerator
• a brick-lined cell with a fixed metal grate over
a lower ash pit
• one opening in the top or side for loading and
another opening in the side for removing
incombustible solids
Fixed grate
 Rotary Kiln
• Has a rotating combustion chamber that
keeps waste moving, thereby allowing it to
vaporize for easier burning.
Rotary Kiln
Rotary Kiln Incinerator
 Fluidized Bed
• Contains inert material usually sand to distribute the fuel
• Wastes are quickly and uniformly incinerated with utilizing
thermal capacity of hot fluidizing sand
• It can be applied for various waste types
• In a fluidized bed, the waste needs to float, so the
combustion can be done from all sites.
• So the first requirement is to make the waste floating, and
• secondly the correct amount of air is necessary for correct
combustion. Because, if the correct amount of air is not
delivered then it will makes the waste flying out of the
combustion chamber
Fluidized bed incinerator
Circulating
Fluidized bed
Incinerator
 Environmental Practices for waste
Incineration
Emissions and consumptions at waste incinerators are
mainly influenced by:
• Waste composition and content
• Furnace technical measures (design and operation)
• Design and operation of flue-gas cleaning equipment.
• Emission to air
• HCl, HF, SO2, NOX,CO,VOC
• Emission to water
• Wet flue-gas cleaning is the main source of effluents, although in some
cases this effluent is also eliminated by evaporation.
• Some other waste water streams may arise from storage, boilers etc…
 Environmental….
• Solid residues
• bottom ash or slag – mainly the incombustible
fraction of the waste
• boiler ash – the ash that accumulates and is
removed from the boiler
• fly ash – the light ash that travels with the flue-
gas and is then removed by FGT equipment
Incinerator emissions have been linked
to:
• Lung, laryngeal, stomach and other
cancers
• Ischemic heart disease
• Urinary mutagens and promutagens
• Elevated blood levels of various toxic
organic compounds and metals
 Emission control
A wide variety of control technologies are used
to control emissions.
Electrostatic Precipitators
Fabric Filters
Spray Drying
Dry Sorbent Injection
Wet Scrubbers
Questions?
Thank You!