INCINERATOR WASTE WATER

F. E. MATUSKY
Quirk, Lawler & Matusky, Water Resources Engineers
New York, New York
R. K. HAMPTON
Hampton Equipment Co., Inc.
Garden city, New York
ABSTRACT
The effuent water from incinerator plants is contami
nated by dissolved and suspended matter. Treatment is
required to prevent pollution of streams and underground
water. The waste water from five plants was investigated
to establish the amount and characteristics of the con
tamination. This paper reports the findings and suggests
corrective steps.
INTRODUCTION
It is generally recognized that fly ash discharged from
refuse incinerators is a source of atmospheric pollution.
Another source of pollution may be the discharge of
water from residue quenching and fly ash conveying. This
paper will present the results of tests made at representa
tive incinerator plants which have various grate designs
and fly ash handling systems.
The plants are representative of those in common use.
Furnace sizes vary from 90 tons/day to 250 tons/day with
two to four furnaces per plant.
Water sampling was done during normal operation and
no special or advance notice was given to the operators.
The analyses were made by independent testing labora
tories. This is one of the few attempts made to test the
effect of incinerator plants on water pollution.
198
PLANTS INVESTIGATED
Plant "A" is a rectangular plant with a manually con
trolled, hydraulically operated rocker grate. The residue
is dumped sequentially into ash hoppers. Residue is
quenched by means of manually controlled water valves
and sprays. Run off is carried by pipe to a sewer. In this
plant the fly ash is conveyed in a dry state by a vacuum
cleaning system to a bin where it is dumped directly into
ash trucks.
plant "B" is equipped with a traveling grate, with resi
due being continuously dumped into a water-flled drag
conveyor. Fly ash is collected by a dry cyclone mechani
ca collector and conveyed dry by a series of small drag
fight conveyors and discharged into the main residue
conveyors. Here fly ash is mixed with the residue and
quenching water. The mixture of residue and fy ash is
dewatered as it is dragged up an inclined trough prior to
discharge for transport to a residue dump.
Plant "e" has circular furnaces equipped with stokers.
The residue is dumped periodically under manual control
into water-filled residue conveyor troughs. It is dragged up
an incline which dewaters the residue and discharges it to
trucks. Fly ash from dust collectors is discharged into a
water-Hlled sump and is then pumped to a fill area. The
secondary combustion or expansion chamber has a wet
bottom which collects the fy ash in that area. This cham
ber is dewatered and the fly ash pumped directly to the
fly ash lagoon. The overfow from the residue conveyor
troughs discharges to a common sump that also collects
fy ash from the dust collector. This plant is equipped
with boilers and the dust collected in the boiler bottoms
falls into a wet sump from which it flows into the com
mon sump.
plant "D" is a plant with rocker grates for continuous
burning. The grates discharge continuously into a drag
type residue conveyor. Siftings from the grate fall into a
trough equipped with sluicing nozzles which convey
siftings into the conveyor trough continuously. Fly ash is
collected in wet bottoms in the expansion chambers and
is periodically fushed into the residue conveyor. The
water from the conveyor trough overfows into a second
ary settling basin parallel to the main residue conveyor
trough. The water overfows from this secondary basin
into the suction of high pressure pumps for recirculation
to the nozzles in the siftings troughs. It is also used to
flush out the expansion chambers. Except when flushing,
the system discharges very little water to the sewer. The
residue and fy ash are dewatered as they go up the in
clined drag conveyor.
plant "E" is a plant equipped with a reciprocating
stoker burning continuously. Residue is discharged con
tinuously into a drag flight type conveyor in a water-Hlled
trough. Fly ash is flushed periodically into the conveyor
trough. The siftings from under the grate are removed
manually and dumped into the residue conveyor trough as
need arises. Overflow from the residue conveyor is dis
charged to the sanitary sewer system.
SIFTINGS
HOPPER-
,.
IOCKEI TYPE GIATE
MUL TI- CELL
RECTANGULAR FURNACE

ASH QIENCHING SPRAY

HOPPER
=_ - ASH GATE
TIUCK
FIG. 1 PLANT A
QIENCHING WATER
DISCHARGE PIPE
199
,
STACK
DRY CYCLONE
_FAN
l
.
OUST COLLECTOR_
a (
-NACE
, ,
WITH
-
TRAVELING GRATE

RESIDUE DRAG CONVEYOR

WITH WATER IILLEO TROIGH

FIG.2 PLANT B
,
1

A

-l
"Y FLY A!H
DRAG CON VEYO
DRY OUST
COLLEC TOR
.
CHAMSER
GASES TO FAN
CIRCIILAR
FURNACE
PIPES TO
LAGOON "
SVMP
"ASTI HEAT
SOlLER
4 CK
u,p SVMP
FLY ASH PIPE 1101 SOlLER 4
DUST COLLECTOR HOPPERS
I 'F"IOIE DRAG CONVEYOR
CENTRIFIGAL PUMP
RECIRCUATED
FIG. 3. PLANT C
FUACE
ROCKER
GRATE
WATER
WATER TO _
SIFTINGS
TRO
WATER
TO COMBSTION
CHAMBR FLUSHING
NOZZLES
RESDUE DAG
CVEYOR
FLY AS SETTLING BASIN
AND CONVEYOR
FIG. 4 PLANTS D AND E
TESTS OF WASTE WATER
In the past 25 years, there has been an impetus to treat
waste from the industrial processes as well as the residen
tial community. Incinerators are a process operation con
ducted by communities and industries and as such are
being reviewed by cognizant agencies for use in the dis
posal of the pollution discharged in the liquid waste
stream and other effuents. The various tests that have
been developed for the investigation of pollution have
been derived from long experience with sanitary sewage
waste. These tests are often applied to industrial waste
effluents as a first approach in measuring pollutional
effects. Over the years, as knowledge developed regarding
specific waste characteristics from industrial discharges,
additional tests have been developed. Basically, however,
evaluation of process wastes wl be based on tests origi
nating from sanitary sewage experience. Many tests are
simple in concept though not necessarily simple in appli
cation. Some of the measurements that are taken to de
termine a waste's characteristics and which will be de
scribed are:
Temperature
Dissolved oxygen (DO)
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Hydrogen ion concentration (pH)
Alkalinity
Solids tests
Odor
Temperature often is not appreciated as a cause of pol
lution. Its effect is related to the air (source of oxygen)
absorbing characteristics of water. Less air will dissolve at
higher temperatures. Wastes discharged at elevated tem
peratures may cause a decrease in the availability of oxy
gen and so temperatures may become a pollutional char
acteristic in itself.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) present in water has a direct
effect on fish and microbial life. At ambient temperatures
(68 F), clean water will hold in solution about nine parts
per million (ppm) of oxygen. About fve ppm of oxygen
are necessary to support fish life. Complete depletion of
oxygen in a given body of water will reduce its ability to
cope with pollution by a factor of ten. Polluted water,
lacking oxygen, will produce offensive odors and foating
sludges. DO may be directly measured with electrodes or
indirectly by chemical means.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a test used to
determine the effect of a given waste on a stream's oxy
gen balance. This test was developed from early experi-
200
ments that showed organic wastes would stabilize under
certain conditions without causing offensive problems.
The test involves completely filling a 300 ml. bottle, with
a waste that has been diluted with a well-aerated miner
alized water, and incubating at 20 C for five days. The
measure of oxygen change is the BOD in ppm. Sewage
BOD values are about 250 ppm.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) test was devised to
supplement the time-consuming five day BOD test. It
may be run in an hour's time and is roughly related to
BOD.
Hydrogen Ion Concentration (pH) is a measure of
acidity or basicity. The value is reported as the number
which is the negative exponent of hydrogen ion concen
tration in an aqueous solution. In neutral water the value
is seven. This is the reference point and readings lower
than seven represent an acid condition, while higher read
ings indicate a basic condition.
Alkalinity is the property of water to absorb acid and
it is measured by its reactivity with calcium carbonate
equivalent.
Total Solids are determined as the residue upon evapo
ration and drying under controlled conditions of temper
ature (103 C), and are reported by weight.
Suspended Solids are that portion of total solids which
occur in suspension rather than in solution.
Settleable Solids are determined by a method adopted
in sewage treatment practice. The water under examina
tion is placed in a one liter graduated glass of conical
shape, and allowed to stand for 30 minutes. The amount
of material that settles is reported as percent settleable
solids on a volume basis. This test is also made on a weight
basis. In this case, material is allowed to stand for 45 min
utes in a cylinder, and the material which settles is sepa
rated, dried, weighed and reported in milligrams per liter
(mg/l).
Volatile Solids are an indication of the organic con
stituents in residue and are determined by subtraction
after elevating the temperature of the residue to 1800 F
in a laboratory furnace to fnd the amount of inert ma
terial.
Odor. An empirical method for classifying odor by
comparison with standards terms is in use. Classification
is made by rating on a scale of one to fve as follows: no
odor, very faint, faint, distinct, quite distinct, and very
strong. Various characteristics are reported, such as aro
matic, burnt, chlorine, musty, moldy, sulfuretted, and
so on.
These are some of the tests that are employed in
characterizing waste water. The tests imply the problem
areas, such as, depletion of oxygen and deposition of
solids. Waste water effects, as identifed by tests, most
often occur simultaneously. As an example, if the ma
terials deposited are organic, they may impose a demand
on the dissolved oxygen in the water in a particular area,
causing a localized drop of DO resulting in lower quality
for the future downstream use of the water and to the
local use of that water by aquatic life.
CONVENTIONAL WASTE TREATMENT (SEWAGE)
The entire issue in waste water treatment is that we
cannot, economically or conveniently, dispose of large
quantities of waste water. Therefore, treatment to re
move the small amount of offensive materials becomes
necessary. A typical waste water may have only 0.1 per
cent by weight of pollutional material.
Sewage wastes, when treated beyond simple physical
separation of foating and settleable solids, normally in
volves biological processing. A typical plant would have
settling tanks and a method for contact of waste with
bacteriological growths, which may be attached to a
media, or in a detached system. Trickling flters are sys-
tems in which the slime is attached to stones and the
waste is passed over the attached biological slime. The
activated sludge process is a detached contact system in
which the biological slime is passed through tanks and
reacted with the waste held under aeration. Aeration has
a two-fold function; one is to cause mixing of tank con
tents to initiate contact with the slimes; the air also sup
plies oxygen needed for metabolism of the organism in
volved in assimilating waste from the mixture. Final
settling separates the biological materials from the treated
water. The function of the biological system is to convert
dissolved materials in water into biological cell material,
(water and various gases which may be readily removed
from the system).
CHARACTERISTICS OF INCINERATOR
WASTE WATER
Water emanates from an incinerator at several points,
such as the fly ash handling system, various sluice-ways
and the residue quench system. Incinerator operations
also require wash up water and fushing of wet scrubbers,
wet baffes, wet bottoms and settling chambers. This
water must be disposed of to sewers or streams.
TABLE 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF INCINERATOR WASTE WATER
Source
River
Sewage
Incinerator Wastes
A
Ash hopper
Fly Ash disposal
Lagoon
B
Residue conveyor
C
Residue conveyor
D
Residue Conveyor
E
Residue conveyor
Odor
0
4M
3M
1M
2S
2M
3M
3M
1S
M - Moldy
pH
7.0
6.8
7.2
7.3
11.6
4.6
6.4
S - Sulfuretted
Alkalinity
ppm
50
100
50
134
424
330
410
201
Total Solids
Suspended Solids Five Day BOD
Total Volatile-% 20

C
ppm
ppm ppm
100 10 trace 2
500 300 50 200
1,327 69 70 700
11,846 11 31 3.2
9,580 13 24 54
1,830 236 71 618
6,302 56 78 750
45 47 560
14 43 605
Typical waste analyses, made in the plants which were
described earlier, are presented in Table 1. For purposes
of orientation, some average values for river water and for
sewage have been included.
In the typical river, odors are negligible, pH is generally
around seven, alkalinity runs about 50 ppm, total solids
about 100 ppm, suspended solids about 10 ppm with only
a trace of volatile solids. The fve-day BOD will be two to
fve ppm. Higher values of BOD indicate polluted con
ditions.
Sewage would have a distinct odor, graded about four,
on the odor scale of one through fve, with a musty to
moldy scent. The pH may be either acid or alkaline. Sew
age has a high buffering capacity and can absorb large
amounts of acidity or alkalinity. Comparing incinerator
wastes to the typical sewage, it is seen that the odor
characteristics are about the same. In the table, "M"
designates moldy and the odor scale ranges from one to
fve. Values of pH vary with source location within the
incinerator system. Values of pH in the residue con
veyors range from a low of 4.6 for incinerator "A" to a
value of 11.6 for incinerator "B". With the aid of the
incinerator diagrams, it is possible to see how these values
are influenced by the reaction of minerals resulting from
the burn out. Wood residue is alkaline, but the gas stream
may have signifcant, though small, amounts of sulphur
dioxide which reacts with moisture to form sulphurous
acid and carbon dioxide and water form carbonic acid.
Therefore, depending upon the amount of the entrain
ment of the gas in scrub water, it is possible to have either
an acid or a basic reaction in the residue conveyor. Other
gases may also influence the results.
Alkalinity ranges are higher than that for sewage. This
indicates that residue has a capacity to absorb acid from
the gas stream. The several routes that gas stream acids
may take are: entry to a wet bottom expansion chamber,
or entrainment on a wet baffe or wet cyclone or other
scrubbing device which not only removes particulate
matter, but also scrubs the gas stream.
Total solids, as expected, are high in residue conveyors
and fy ash handling systems, ranging from 1300 to
12,000 ppm or 0. 1 percent to 1.2 percent. Suspended
solids, however, are low, therefore, most of the material
is dissolved. Dissolved materials are difficult to separate.
Some of the solids in the suspended solid portion could
be removed by quiescent settling, whereas, dissolved
material would require a chemical or biochemical process
to effect separation from water.
The biochemical oxygen demand for incinerator waste
water is generally less than that of sewage. BOD values
202
were about 700 ppm from a variety of burning equip
ment. There does not seem to be a correlation between
the type of burning equipment employed and the BOD
pickup in the waste water for the incinerators investigated.
Intuitively, a good burn out should produce a residue
which would have a lower BOD reaction. However, such
operating factors as optimum loading and length of time
of water storage in the various wet zones influence BOD
pickup. These factors were not evaluated in this study.
The amount of water used to quench residue ranged
from 350 gallons per minute to 800 gallons per minute;
all of this water is not necessarily discharged to waste.
There are systems in operation which recirculate water for
reuse. Quench water reduction was attempted in one in
stance by batch-quenching rather than continuous quench
ing. This resulted in the ash tunnel filing with steam,
making it impossible to continue work. Most operators
fnd it necessary to allow quench water to run continu
ously regardless of quench system. Equipment could be
designed to permit batch-quenching, thereby reducing
quench volume. Regardless of quench system, the volume
of water circulated through residue system was found to
be about the same. However, the volumes discharged from
incinerators varied markedly.
Single pass systems used more water than recirculated
systems. Total recirculation does not appear to be feasible
without fltration, since there will be a build-up of sus
pended solids which do not settle and clogging of nozzles
and pumps may occur.
Reference is made to the sanitary analysis of the waste
in incinerator "A". We examined residue conveyor waste
water, fy ash disposal waste water and lagoon waste
water. Fly ash and residue conveyor waste waters were
mixed and detained prior to overflow into the receiving
water. It was found that fy ash had an expected low BOD
of 3.2 ppm. The BOD of the residue conveyor water was
750 ppm. However, when the residue conveyor water was
lagooned with water used to fush fy ash, an appreciable
reduction in BOD was observed. The reduction was not
entirely explained by the dilution effect. A defnite stabi
lization was occurring within the lagoon without the
production of obvious odors or other nuisances.
To further observe this effect, a sample of the residue
conveyor water, high in BOD (750 ppm) and yellow in
color was collected and allowed to stand in a warm room,
a tightly-capped quart jar. Such an environment should
lend itself to anaerobic decomposition with concomitant
evolution of gases, such as hydrogen sulfde, carbon
dioxide and methane. The expected gas evolution did not
occur. If the waste was sewage, we would have had a dis-
integration of the waste within 12 to 24 hours. The sub
ject sample was observed for three months with no ob
servable gasifcation or detectable odors, other than the
characteristic burnt odor. Color lightened to a very light
straw yellow, and with time would have disappeared
entirely. A test for BOD on this sample, which had an
initial BOD of 750 ppm, disclosed that it had stabilized
to a point where it now had a BOD of 32 ppm. Three
months is a long time when compared to sewage treat
ment processes which occur in six to eight hours. None
theless, it is valuable to know that no gas or odors evolved
during stabilization. This may be partially explained by
the absence of protein in the residue. Because of the large
percentage of paper products that are incinerated, the
residue is high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates break
down to the organic acids and alcohols which in turn
decompose to carbon-dioxide and water. Protein, which
occurs in sewage, decomposes anaerobically to nitrogen
and sulfur compounds, some being odoriferous. These
observations suggest that it may be possible to treat high
strength wastes from incinerators without causing nui
sances.
The frst requirements for treating incinerator water
wastes would be to effect a reduction of waste water.
Recirculation may be looked to for minimizing the
amount of water discharged. Availability of self-cleaning
screens and strainers would permit design of systems for
water reuse.
One of the incinerators was sampled daily for one
operating week (six days). Tests were made for odor,
alkalinity, pH, total suspended solids, volatile solids and
fve-day 20 C BOD. Grab samples were taken out of the
wet bottom on Monday through Saturday. Odor of con
sequence was not found; it was characterized as slightly
sulfuretted. The pH increased from 6.1 on Monday to
7.65 on Saturday. Initial alkalinity on Monday was 76
ppm, on Tuesday 322 ppm, and continued to climb to
620 ppm. There was some continuous overflowing of
water so alkalinity was influenced by the makeup water.
The efect of makeup water was observed in the change
in suspended solids which initially were 150 ppm and
then dropped to 32, 14,34, 10, 38 in subsequent days.
Volatile solids followed the same pattern, rangng 36
percent, 25 percent, 42 percent, 76 percent, 40 percent
and 73 percent. The BOD's for the period were 29, 435,
605,352, 158 and 357 ppm.
These samples were retained at room temperature for
a period of 15 days and then retested. At the end of this
period odor changed to slightly musty for each sample.
The value of pH was about 8.0 and alkalinity varied: 72,
368,464, 296, 290, 360 ppm. BOD value range: 2, 16.5,
203
34.0, 20.6, 12.5, 12.0. The decrease in BOD was in the
order of 90 percent.
There are incinerators that do store water and it often
becomes odoriferous. The possibility of controlling odors
by chemical means was investigated. Many sewage treat
ment plants have made efforts to control odor problems
with chemicals. There exists a substantial amount of busi
ness promotion aimed at selling chemicals for controlling
odors from sanitary landfUls and sewage treatment plant
operations. Some of these chemicals were tested. All of
the chemicals based their efect on the sterilization of
bacteria responsible for odor production. Field experience
with halogens (chlorine, iodoform), chlorophyl and
phenols were not satisfactory because of uneconomical
dosage requirements and poor retention in the waste
water system.
Use of quaternary ammonium phenate compounded
from low purity petrochemicals has shown some merit
and may prove useful in closed systems. This chemical
has a high retention and can be compounded from low
cost materials. It has shown promise when applied to a
recirculated system having the characteristics pH of 7.85,
chlorides of 600 ppm, total solids of 4'10 ppm, volatile
solids of 258 ppm, fxed solids of 212 ppm, COD of
1290 ppm and a BOD of 271 ppm. The water has shown
a chlorine demand of 645 ppm. To employ chlorine to
control odors in this system would cost approximately
$250 per day based on a 350 gallon per minute (gpm)
flow. Use of quaternary ammonium phenate would cost
$80 per day. However, this cost is based on high purity
material which need not be employed in an incinerator.
Inexpensive supplies may be developed. Investigations are
continuing with odor control since control appears neces
sary with recirculated quench systems.
SUMMARY
1) Waste waters emanating from incinerators are suff
ciently polluted to require treatment prior to discharge to
streams.
2) Water conservation by reuse and improved residue
quenching is indicated as means for minimizing the
problem.
3) Water reuse will require ftration and recirculation
systems.
4) Odor control may be achieved by chemical sterili
zation of closed water systems.
REFERENCES
[1] Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and
Waste-water, 12th Edition, American Public Health Association,
Inc., 1965.