Incineration of Solid Waste

Definition of Incineration
Incineration
is
a
controlled
combustion process for reducing
solid, liquid, or gaseous combustible
wastes primarily to carbon dioxide,
water vapor, other gases, and a
relatively
small,
noncombustible
residue that can be further processed
or land-filled in an environmentally
acceptable manner.
.

Incineration
It is the process of direct
burning of wastes in the
presence of excess air (oxygen)
at temperatures of about 8000C
and above, liberating heat
energy, inert gases and ash.

Incineration
Net energy yield depends upon the
density and composition of the
waste; relative percentage of
moisture and inert materials, which
add to the heat loss; ignition
temperature; size and shape of the
constituents;
design
of
the
combustion system (fixed bed/
fluidised bed ), etc.

Incineration
In practice, about 65 to 80 % of the
energy content of the organic matter
can be recovered as heat energy,
which can be utilised either for
direct thermal applications, or for
producing power via steam turbine
generators (with typical conversion
efficiency of about 30%).

The combustion temperatures of

conventional incinerators fuelled
only by wastes are about 760o C in
the furnace, , and in excess of 870oC
in the secondary combustion
chamber.
These temperatures are needed to
avoid odour from incomplete
combustion but are insufficient to
burn or even melt glass.

To avoid the deficiencies of

conventional
incinerators,
some
modern
incinerators
utilise higher temperatures of
up
to
1650oC
using
supplementary fuel.
These reduce waste volume by
97% and convert metal and
glass to ash.

Wastes burned solely for volume

reduction may not need any auxiliary
fuel
except
for
start-up.
When the objective is steam
production, supplementary fuel may
have to be used with the pulverized
refuse, because of the variable
energy content of the waste or in the
event that the quantity of waste
available
is
insufficient.

While Incineration is extensively

used as an important method of
waste disposal, it is associated with
some polluting discharges which are
of environmental concern, although
in varying degrees of severity. These
can
fortunately
be
effectively
controlled by installing suitable
pollution control devices and by
suitable furnace construction and
control of the combustion process.

Combustion
Combustion may be defined as
the rapid chemical combination
of oxygen with the combustible
elements of a fuel.

Oxidation
Incineration is an oxidation
process,
where
organic
constituents
react
with
oxygen and release heat
during the process.

END

Description
The incineration of solid waste
involves a sequence of steps in the
primary process, which includes
drying, volatilization, combustion of
fixed carbon, and burnout of char of
the solids, which is followed by a
secondary process, the combustion
of the vapors, gases, and particulates
driven off during the primary
process.

Waste Characterization.
For design purposes, the most
important characteristics are the
Higher heating value,
Moisture content, and
Percent of inert material in the
waste.

Incineration Advantages
Incineration is an efficient way to
reduce the waste volume and demand
for landfill space.
Incineration plants can be located
close to the center of gravity of waste
generation, thus reducing the cost of
waste transportation.
Incineration provides the best way
to eliminate methane gas emissions
from waste management processes.

Incineration Advantages
Furthermore, energy from waste
projects provides a substitute for
fossil fuel combustion.
One of the most attractive features
of the incineration process is that it
can be used to reduce the original
volume of combustibles by 80 to 95
percent.

Incineration Advantages
Waste incineration may be
advantageous when a landfill cannot
be sited because of a lack of suitable
sites or long haulage distances,
which result in high costs.

Incineration Disadvantages
An incineration plant involves heavy
investments and high operating costs.
Furthermore, waste incineration is
only applicable if certain requirements
are met.
The complexity of an incineration
plant requires skilled staff.

Incineration Disadvantages
The residues from the flue gas
cleaning can contaminate the
environment if not handled
appropriately, and must be
disposed of in controlled and welloperated landfills to prevent ground
and surface water pollution.

Objectives of Combustion
The objectives of combustion in an
incinerator are
Complete destruction of the
organic constituents to form
harmless gases and the prevention
of the release of any harmful
material to the environment.

Objectives of Combustion
Efficient conversion of the heat

released, into useful energy, is

secondary to safe and efficient
destruction of the waste.

3 Ts for Efficient Oxidation

The oxidation of the combustible
elements requires a temperature
high enough to ignite the
constituents, mixing of the
material with oxygen, or
turbulence and sufficient time for
complete combustion, (i.e., the
three "Ts" of combustion).

3 Ts for Efficient Oxidation

Proper attention to these three
factors can produce destruction /
conversion efficiencies of 99.9%99.95% in well-operated
incinerators.

Major Combustible Chemical

Elements
The two major combustible
chemical elements of
significance are Carbon and
Hydrogen.

MECHANISM OF COMBUSTION
Mechanism of combustion consists
of two stage process
1. Primary Combustion Process
2. Secondary Combustion Process

MECHANISM OF COMBUSTION.
1. Primary Combustion Process.
The thermal destruction of waste
(or any other solid fuel with
significant moisture content) is
accomplished in four phases as
described below:

Phase One.
The first phase is the drying phase
that occurs in the initial heating of
the heterogeneous material.
Moisture is driven off as the material
is heated past the vaporization
temperature of water. Drying is
usually complete by the time the
material has reached 300oF.

Phase Two.
The second phase is the volatilization
of vapors and gases which occurs as
the temperature of the waste
continues to rise.

Phase Three.
The third phase in the burn
down of solids is the in-place
oxidation of the burnable solids
left after the vapors and gases
have been volatilized.

Phase Four
The fourth phase in the process
involves the final burn down of char
and the consolidation and cooling of
the inert residues, known as bottom
ash. This material is the end product,
which, after a short period of cooling
on the hearth/grate, is dumped into
the ash-receiving system.

Secondary Combustion.
The secondary combustion
zone / secondary combustion
chamber must provide the desired
temperature, turbulence, and
excess air required to achieve
complete destruction of all the
unburned gases, vapors, and
particulates released from the
primary combustion process.

Secondary Combustion.
The complete destruction of highflash-point, low-heat-content vapors
and particulates requires more time
and greater turbulence than does the
complete destruction of the
more easily burned materials.

Basic Types of Incineration Plants

Both Stoker and Fluidised Bed type
furnaces are used in incinerators.
The modern municipal incinerators are usually of the
continuously burning type, and may have water
wall construction in the combustion chamber in
place of the older, more common refractory lining.
Corrosion of water wall units can, however, be a
problem. Recent advancements include Twin
Interchanging Fluidised Bed Combustor developed
by a company in Japan, which is claimed to be
capable of completely combusting wastes of low to
high calorific values at very high overall efficiency

Types of Incineration Plants

Some basic types of Incineration Plants

are
1. Mass Burn:
2. Modular Combustion Units:
3. Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) based
Power Plants:

Modular Combustion Units:

Modular incinerators are simply small
mass burn plants with capacity
ranging from 25 to 300 tonnes per day.
The boilers are built in a factory and
shipped to the plant site, rather than
being erected on the site, as is the case
with larger plants. These facilities are
often used in small communities.

Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) based

Power Plants:
In an RDF plant, waste is processed
before burning. Typically, the
noncombustible items are removed,
separating glass and metals for recycling.

Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) based

Power Plants:
The combustible waste is shredded into a
smaller, more uniform particle size for
burning. The RDF thus produced may be
burned in boilers on-site, or it may be
shipped to off-site boilers for energy
conversion. If the RDF is to be used offsite, it is usually densified into pellets
through the process of pelletisation.

Pyrolysis/ Gasification
Pyrolysis is also refered to as destructive
distillation or carbonization. It is the
process of thermal decomposition of
organic matter at high temperature (about
9000C) in an inert (oxygen deficient)
atmosphere or vacuum, producing a
mixture of combustible Carbon Monoxide,
Methane, Hydrogen, Ethane [CO, CH 4, H2,
C2H6] and non-combustible Carbon
Dioxide, water, Nitrogen [CO2, H2O, N2]
gases, pyroligenous liquid, chemicals and
charcoal..

Pyrolysis/ Gasification
The pyroligenous liquid has high heat
value and is a feasible substitute of
industrial fuel oil. Amount of each endproduct depends on the chemical
composition of the organic matter and
operatingconditions. Quantity and
chemical composition of each product
changes with pyrolysis temperature,
residence time, pressure, feed stock and
other variables

Gasification
Gasification involves thermal decomposition of
organic matter at high temperatures in presence
of limited amounts of air/ oxygen, producing
mainly a mixture of combustible and noncombustible gas (carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen
and Carbon Dioxide).
This process is similar to Pyrolysis, involving
some secondary/ different high temperature
(>1000oC) chemistry which improves the heating
value of gaseous output and increases the
gaseous yield (mainly combustible gases
CO+H2) and lesser quantity of other residues.
The gas can be cooled, cleaned and then
utilized in IC engines to generate electricity.

Pyrolysis/ Gasification is already a

proven method for homogenous organic
matter like wood, pulp etc. and is now
being recognised as an attractive option for
MSW also. In these processes, besides net
energy recovery, proper destruction of the
waste is also ensured. The products are
easy to store and handle. These processes
are therefore being increasingly favoured
in place of incineration.

Disadvantages
Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration
plants tend to be among the most expensive
solid waste management options, and they
require highly skilled personnel and careful
maintenance. For these reasons, incineration
tends to be a good choice only when other,
simpler, and less expensive choices are not
available.