Incinerator emissions

Diverse techniques have been employed to identify the sources of elements in atmospheric dust (and surface dust) (Table V). Some involve considering trends in concentration and others use various statistical methods. The degree of sophistication and detail obtained from the analyses increases from top left to bottom right of the Table. The sources identified as contributing the elements in rural and urban atmospheric dusts are detailed in Table VI. The principal sources are crustal material, soil, coal and oil combustion emissions, incinerated refuse emissions, motor vehicle emissions, marine spray, cement and concrete weathering, mining and metal working emissions. Many elements occur in more than one source, and they are classified in the... 

Based on the results of the factor analysis, V, PB, CU, and MN(C) were chosen as source tracers for oil-burning, automobile emissions, incineration and resuspended soil, respectively. 

Elemental analysis has been performed on particulates from many different combustion sources including car emissions, incinerators and cigarettes, as well as from coal and oil-fired power stations (McCrone Delly, 1973). The results from McCrone Delly and other studies (Shen et al., 1976 Cheng et al., 1976) show that the major elements present in power station emission particulates are, for oil V, Fe, Si, S, and Ca and for coal Fe, Ti, Si, S, K, and Ca. Titanium and vanadium have, therefore, been used in the past as indicative of coal and oil particles, respectively (e.g. Ganor et al., 1988). However, both oil and coal are heterogeneous materials, and vanadium is present in some coals and titanium in some oils. Consequently, these elements do not allow consistent discrimination between fuel... 

Disposal of exhausted soHds can be easily overlooked at the plant design stage, particularly when these have no intrinsic value alternative disposal methods might include landfiU of inert material or incineration, hydrolysis, or pyrolysis of organic materials. Liquid, soHd, and gaseous emissions are aU subject to the usual environmental considerations. 

The need to meet environmental regulations can affect processing costs. Undesirable air emissions may have to be eliminated and Hquid effluents and soHd residues treated and disposed of by incineration or/and landfilling. It is possible for biomass conversion processes that utilize waste feedstocks to combine waste disposal and treatment with energy and/or biofuel production so that credits can be taken for negative feedstock costs and tipping or receiving fees. 

R. G. Barton, W. O. Clark, W. S. Lanier, and W. R. Seeker, "Dioxin Emissions During Waste Incineration," presented at Spring Meeting Western States Section of the Combustion Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1988. 

RCRA incinerator regulations include adrninistrative as weU as performance standards. Administrative standards include procedures for waste analysis, inspection of equipment, monitoring, and facihty security. Steps needed to meet adrninistrative standards are outlined ia the permit apphcation performance standards are demonstrated during a trial bum. Trial bum operating conditions are included in the permit to assure ongoing compliance with the performance standards. Performance standards include destmction and removal efficiency (DRE), particulate emissions limits, products of incomplete combustion emission limits, metal emission limits, and HCl and Cl emission limits (see Exhaust CONTROL, INDUSTRIAL). 

Pollutant Emissions from Solid Waste Incinerators. 

Dioxin and Furan Emissions. The emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-/)-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans (PCDF) from incinerators (4) are of interest to the pubHc, scientists, and engineers. The U.S. EPA classifies 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-/)-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) as the most potent carcinogenic compound it has evaluated. It is also Hsted as the agency s most potent reproductive toxin (4). 

Control Systems. Control systems are used to regulate the addition of Hquid waste feed, auxiHary fuel, and combustion air flows to the incinerator furnace. In addition, scmbber operation is automated to help ensure meeting emission limits. Flows are measured using differential pressure... 

Pollutant Emissions from Liquid Waste Incinerators. 

The impact of the regulations in Table 4 is to require users and producers of VOC ketones to limit release by either reformulating to new solvent systems, to install environmental control systems which recover and recycle solvents, or reduce emissions with carbon absorption beds or incineration equipment. The use of some individual ketones will decline further, but the overall short-term use of ketones is forecast to remain stable (10). 

The transport of phthalates by road tankers and ships within Europe is carried out by international companies with sophisticated tank cleaning facihties. Wash waters from these modem faciUties are passed through a series of separators to remove any residual plasticizer which is then incinerated. It is estimated that, as a result of cleaning and spillages, the maximum emission to the environment is 80 t/yr. 

Emissions During Disposal and Incineration. The increasing use of modem incinerators to dispose of domestic waste results in complete combustion of plasticizers to carbon dioxide and water. The preponderance of plasticizer going into landfiUs is as plasticized PVC. Once a landfiU has been capped anaerobic conditions prevail and it is biologically relatively inactive. Under these conditions the main route by which organic components are removed from the landfiU contents is by ingress of water, extraction, and subsequent loss of water from the site to the environment. 

There are numerous misconceptions about the sources of various chemical elements in waste, particularly those that are potential acid formers when the waste is incinerated or mechanically converted and used as a refuse-derived fuel. For example, it is often mistakenly stated that the source of chlorine in waste, hence a potential source of HCl emissions, is poly(vinyl chloride). The relative contents of selected, potentially acid-forming elements in the organic portion of a sample of waste collected from various households in one U.S. East Coast city is given in Table 2 (17). In this city, a chief source of chlorine in the waste is NaCl, probably from food waste. 

AH vapors, including hotweH odors, are captured in a header system linked with the incineration air of a steam boiler or hot oil vaporizer. Drain seals avoid escape of odors from the sewer lines. This completely eliminates total reduced sulfur (TRS) emissions. The SO2 emissions are subject to local regulations. 

Kesults of the Combustion and Emissions Research Project at the Vicon Incinerator Facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, final report. Midwest Research Institute for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authonty, New York, June 1987. 

Most carbon adsorption units use granular activated carbon (GAC). The powdered form of activated carbon (PAC) typically is less than 100 microns in diameter and may be used to reduce dioxins in incinerator emissions (2) and in the treatment of drinking water and wastewater treatment (see the section on "Activated Sludge"). 

The level of natural versus man-made emissions to the environment are of a similar magnitude. SoH erosion is the major contributor of natural emissions with zinc mining, zinc production facHities, iron and steel production, corrosion of galvanized stmctures, coal and fuel combustion, waste disposal and incineration, and the use of zinc fertilizers and pesticides being the principal anthropogenic contributors. 

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