PRINCIPLES AND DESIGN OF THERMAL TREATMENT

EVT 627 HAZARDOUS WASTE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION
Introduction Status and Regulation Thermal treatment technology Instrumentation Air pollution control

INTRODUCTION
Hazardous waste is nonexclusive in its content ~ contain combustible organic + noncombustible inorganic. Hazardous waste come in all physical forms: liquid, solid and somewhere in between. Good combustion is good oxidation of organic components.

Example
A waste mixture (by weight ) of 30% toluene, 66 % acetone and 5% water is to be burn in a liquid injection type incinerator at rate of 1000 lb/h with 20% air.
Compound
Toluene Acetone Water

Formula
C6H5CH3 CH3COCH3 H2O

Heating value, Btu/lb

18,252 13,120 0

What is the total heat release in the incinerator?

Solution
Toluene heat release = 0.30 x 18,252 = 5,476 Btu/lb Acetone heat release = 0.65 x 13,120 = 8,659.2 Btu/lb Water heat release = 0 Btu/lb Heat release per pound of mixture = 14,135.2 Btu/lb Heat release in the incinerator = 1000 lb/h x 14,135.2Btu/lb = 14,135,200 Btu/lb

STATUS & REGULATION

In United States the law governing incineration system is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA). This statute provide far more technical details than other environmental legislation.

THERMAL TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

Combustion Excess air Fuels Metals Gases and Vapors Flares Catalytic VOC Incinerators Thermal VOC Incinerators Liquid Injection Incinerators Solid Waste Incineration Grate-Type Incinerators Hearth-Type Incinerators Fluidized-Bed Incinerators

COMBUSTION
Combustion of hazardous waste does not differ greatly from the combustion of conventional fuel except that the wastes may contain many different organic compounds. Has a measurable heating value.

Excess Air
When organic wastes + stoichiometric amount of air (oxygen) complete combustion Perfect combustion not possible in commercial burners or incinerators. Incinerators must always utilize excess air to achieve combustion May accomplish in two ways: Operating under starved air With an excess air Also used in incinerators for temperature control because the excess air absorbs heat generated during the combustion reaction.

Fuels
The fuels used in an incineration system to provide auxiliary heat. May be any commercially available fuel such as natural gases (methane), propane (LPG), light or heavy fuel oil, which may not be hazardous waste.

Metals
Inorganic components of wastes fed in an incinerator cannot be destroyed. Only oxidized. Most of the inorganic materials are chemically classified as metals and enter the combustion process as a component of waste. Will exits combustion process as oxides of the metal that enters.

GASES AND VAPORS

Not covered by federal RCRA regulations. Waste gases consist of hydrocarbon or a mixture of hydrocarbon in air. Waste gases high concentration Higher Explosive Limit (HEL) Lower Explosive Limit (LEL)

Flares
are used for waste gases that are above the HEL and may be mix with air, ignited and burned cleanly. Can be elevated Primarily used to disposed combustible gases during the process.

Catalytic VOC Incinerators

To remove VOC with low concentration. The VOC-air stream is directly heated with product of combustion from a fuel burner to a temperature at which the VOC will begin to burn on the surface of the catalyst. The temperature is determined by: Type of VOC The catalyst employed VOC concentration in air. Catalyst enhances the combustion reaction - Causes oxidation of VOCs on the catalyst surface with very little heat loss.

Thermal VOC Incinerators

Is a catalytic incinerator without the catalyst. The incoming mixture must be heated to a temperature where VOC will be oxidized. Consist of fuel burner firing into a chamber where the VOC-air mixture is adequately mixed with the burner combustion products.

LIQUID INJECTION INCINERATORS

Is the greatest proportion of hw incinerators in operation today. The waste is burn in a burner (combustor) or injected by atomizing nozzles into a flame zone or combustion zone of the incinerator chamber (furnace). Are usually refractory-lined combustion chambers, generally cylindrical in cross section, and equipped with a primary burner. Operate at temperatures ranging from 1000C (1832F) to 1700C (3092F).

LIQUID INJECTION INCINERATORS (Cont..)

The atomizing nozzle in the burner is a critical part of the system because it divides the liquid waste into fine droplets. The reason for injecting the liquid as a fine spray are:
To disperse the liquid as a fine mist mixed with air for efficient combustion. To develop the desired pattern for the liquid droplets in the combustion zone with sufficient penetration and kinetic energy. To control the rate of flow of the liquid discharged to the combustion system.

Atomizer
Three basic types of atomizers for liquid wastes:
Mechanical or pressure atomizer Two-fluid internal mix atomizer Two-fluid external mix atomizer

Atomizers must be designed to cause shearing action of the liquid to break it into many smaller diameter particles.

SOLID WASTE INCINERATION

Solid waste combustion occurs in suspension, on a grate, or on a solid hearth. Three types:
Grate-Type Incinerators Hearth-Type Incinerators Fluidized-Bed Incinerators

Grate-Type Incinerators
Burn the waste on metal grates, provide air circulating below, above and through the waste. Not generally suitable for hw because the higher temperature required for waste destruction may destroy the grates. Its depends on the waste to be of such character that it will be supported on the grate and will not fall through to the ash pit until it is burned.

Hearth-Type incinerators
Types;
Rotary Kiln Control-air or two-chamber fixedhearth incinerator Multiple-Hearth incinerator Monohearth incinerator (seldomly used)

 Rotary kiln consist of a refractory-lined cylindrical chamber that sits on trunnions and rotates slowly on its longitudinal axis. Waste burns as it moves toward the ash discharge end.

 The fixed-hearth incinerator consist of primary chamber having either single-level hearth or a stepped hearth. In smaller units- waste is intermittently charged to the primary chamber, but ash not removed. In larger units- a mechanical ram pushes the charge through the incinerator, and the ash is continually removed.

 The multiple-hearth incinerator

Originally utilized in an incineration mode for sewage sludge Complicated Highly mechanical system used to burn sludges Limited use in hw incineration because the temperatures required to provide reasonable destruction efficiencies are not compatible with long equipment life. The system consist of two to six horizontal hearths in a vertical array.

Fluidized-Bed Incinerators
Utilizes a fluid hearth consisting of sand or alumina on which combustion occur. Waste is injected into the fluidized bed, either as a liquid, sludge, or uniformly sized solid. Ash will remain in the bed while some exits the incinerator into the air pollution control equipment. Exiting hot flue gases can be used in a boiler or to preheat combustion air.

INSTRUMENTATION
Must be reliable Must be able to measure all of the system variables and to shut down the system if there is any indication of multifunction that might cause discharge of the hazardous chemicals to the environment. The basic operating parameters measured are temperature, flow, pressure, differential pressure, pH and level.

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

Required two functional elements:
A system or equipment item that will remove particulates from the flue gas stream A system or item of equipment for the removal of acid gases.

May be achieved with wet systems or dry systems or with a combination of both. 10 metals: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, antimony, barium, lead, mercury, silver and thallium.

Particulate Removal
Measures in grains/dscf or mg/dscm. Varies widely, depending on two factors:
Gas velocity in the incinerator Actual particle size.

Can be effected by gravity separation, interference, centrifugal separation, filtration through a media filter, electrostatic separation, etc. The smaller the particles, the more easily it is carried by the flue gas at a low gas velocity. Shall not exceed 180 mg/dscm.

Particulate Removal (Cont..)

The dry particulate removal methods include:
Impaction baffles and screens Centrifugal separation cyclone separators Filtration fabric filters Electrostatic precipitators

Wet methods that employ water as a medium include:

Impaction packed and tray columns Centrifugal separation wet cyclones Particle wetting venturis and similar units Particle conditioning and wetting collision scrubber Electrostatic wet ionizer/precipitator

Acid Gas Removal

Normal acid gases encountered are HCl. SO2 and HF. Occasionally HBr will be present. Can be accomplished in either a wet or dry system. Efficiencies vary between the wet and dry system. Dry removal system:
Dry lime injection a variety of systems Dry scrubber spray dryer

Wet removal system:

Absorption/reaction packed and tray columns Wetting contactors venturis/Calvert/Hydro-Sonic