Incineration environmental impact

The environmental impact of incineration, including stack and fugitive emissions ... 

There are four basic types of incinerators used in wastewater treatment plants. They are the multiple hearth incinerator, the fluid bed incinerator, the electric furnace, and the cyclonic furnace. Each system has it s own distinct method of incineration and while one may be more cost efficient, another may have more of an environmental impact. 

This article presents details of the gloomy picture of the environmental impacts associated with PVC waste which has been painted by four PVC waste management studies carried out for the European Commission. The studies cover mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling, behaviour in landfill, and the influence of PVC on incinerator flue gas cleaning residues. 

Environmental impacts Continued impact from existing conditions Would be some migration of contaminant pluma as part of attenuation process Vapor extraction may affect air quality and odors although it will meet emission standards would be aquifer drawdown during groundwater extraction See Alternative 3 fixation may also affect air quality and produce odors Incineration may affect air quality by producing odors, although if will meet emission standards... 

The impact score for human toxicity appears to be relatively low compared to the other environmental impacts. The contribution of phthalates to this impact score is small. If incineration is assumed this contribution is less than 1%. The other extreme, if landfill with DEHP emission is assumed, this contribution is 3%. 

The impact score for fresh water ecotoxicity is relatively low compared to the other environmental impacts for the cases incineration, landfill without DEHP emissions and recycling. 

Demidova, O. (2002). Use of Risk Assessment in Environmental Impact Assessment for Projects with Significant Health Implications Case Studies of UK Waste Incineration Developments, M.Sc. Thesis. Central European University, Budapest. 

In most hydrocarbon operations excess gas and vapors have to disposed of safety, quickly without environmental impact. Where the gas or vapor cannot be converted into useful energy they are routed to a remote point for safe incineration, called flaring. Flares are the most economical and customary means of disposing of excess light hydrocarbon gases in the petroleum and chemical industries. The primary function of a flare is to convert flammable, toxic or corrosive vapors to environmentally acceptable gases for release into the atmosphere. Both elevated or ground flares can be used. 

The environmental impact of PVC is discussed with reference to the toxicity of vinyl chloride, plasticisers and heavy metal stabilisers, the formation of dioxins and acid rain resulting from the incineration of PVC waste, and plasticiser migration from PVC products. A brief examination is also made of the recyclability of PVC. 18 refs. 

Also, incinerators tend to release toxic substances into the environment. Some escape into the air when synthetic products are burned, while others are left behind in the ash that remains after incineration. Since these toxic products are easily ignored, a community may not be aware of the full environmental impact of incineration. In addition, environmentalists have observed that incineration plants are often sited in communities with large racial or ethnic minorities, creating an unfair burden on a portion of the society that is among the least able to fight for its own environmental rights. 

The process to select a technology for the Pueblo Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (PUCDF) was defined in a notice of intent (NOI) published in the Federal Register on April 20, 2000. Environmental impact statements required by the National Environmental Policy Act will be developed for all the candidate technologies. The final choice will be made by the DoD from the technologies certified to be as safe and cost efficient as the baseline incineration system, as well as capable of completing destruction of the Pueblo stockpile either by the CWC treaty deadline (April 29, 2007) or the date that would be achievable by the baseline system, whichever is later. The decision tentatively will be made in early fiscal year 2002. 

In April 2000, the Army published a notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a site-specific environmental impact statement (EIS) for a facility to destroy the mustard agent and munitions stored at Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) in accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. Four technology options are under consideration the baseline incineration system, a modified baseline process, and the two neutralization-based2 processes noted... 

The use of a solvent in any application is associated with a variety of indirect environmental impacts, such as the depletion of nonrenewable resources as a consequence of petrochemical production, atmospheric emissions as a result of solvent incineration, or the high energy demand for solvent recycling by distillation.18-21... 

Capello et al.16 also assessed the environmental impacts of the life cycles of four solvent mixtures (methanol-water, ethanol-water, methanol-ethanol, and -propyl alcohol-water of different compositions w/w) that can be used for the solvolysis of p-methoxybenzoyl chloride. Different waste treatment scenarios for these binary mixtures (incineration and distillation) were analyzed. It appears that a solvent mixture with a high water content has a low environmental impact because the cumulative energy demand (CED) for the production of water is about three orders of magnitude lower than that for organic solvents.37... 

Therefore, the solvent mixtures with water as a component are superior to the methanol-ethanol mixture. Generally, incineration as a treatment option is superior to distillation for these solvent mixtures, particularly for those containing a high proportion of water. Only with regard to the n-propyl alcohol-water mixture is distillation the better treatment option, especially for high concentrations of this alcohol, because of its high environmental impact in petrochemical production. 

WEEE has had a direct affect on flame-retardant use, because flame retardants are used in almost all electrical and electronic equipment to prevent fires from short circuits. This directive lays down rules for disposal and recycling of all electrical and electronic equipment that goes back to the previous incinerator discussion. For flame retardants, this directive affects how the plastic parts, cable jackets, and enclosures are flame retarded. If the plastic cannot be reground and recycled, it must go to the incinerator, in which case it cannot form toxic by-products during incineration. This has led to the rapid deselection of brominated FR additives in European plastics that are used in electronics, or the complete removal of FR additives from plastics used in electronics in Europe. This led, in turn, to increases in electrical fires in Europe, and now customers and fire-safety experts demand low environmental impact and fire safety. However, the existing nonhalogen flame-retardant solutions brought in to replace bromine have their own balance-of-property issues, and so research continues to develop materials that can meet WEEE objectives. 

Environmental Impact of the Disposal of Solid By-Products from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Processes... 

Incineration is often regarded as a very efficient technique for municipal solid waste (MSW) management. However, the environmental impacts of MSW incineration need to be carefully taken into account. The most relevant problem with MSW incineration is flue gas treatment. However, another often overlooked issue is the disposal of solid byproducts of the incineration process. MSW incinerators essentially produce two types of solid by-products, that is, slag, or bottom ash, and fly ash, often mixed with various other chemicals used for flue gas treatment. Bottom ash and—even more—fly ash are regarded as dangerous wastes mainly due to their potentially toxic elements (PTE) content and their tendency to leach such PTE to the environment. 

Despite the fact that incineration is a very interesting MSW management technique, there are a number of issues concerning the environmental impact of this process that need to be carefully considered when evaluating the possibility of... 

MSW management is a crucial environmental task for all advanced societies, particularly in a context of increasing landfilling restrictions. Incineration can signifi-candy contribute to MSW management. However, MSW (or RDF) incineration has several serious potential environmental impacts that need to be carefully taken into account. 

Carnes, S.A., J.A. Boyette, F.C. Kornegay, et al. 1986. Preliminary Assessment of the Health and Environmental Impacts of Incinerating M55 Rockets Stored at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Lexington-Blue Grass Depot Activity, and/or Anniston Army Depot at Pine Blujf Arsenal. ORNL-6197. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. 

Morselli L, Zappoli S, Tirabassa T. 1992. Characterization of the effluents from a municipal solid waste incinerator plant and of environmental impact. Chemosphere 24 1775-1784. 

Catalytic hydrotreatment is widely used in the petroleum Industry to remove sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen from crude oil fractions. However, its use to treat chlorocarbons has not been widely reported despite the widespread use of these compounds in industrial and military operations, and despite the negative environmental impact associated with most disposal options. Catalytic hydrotreatment has the potential to be a safe alternative for the treatment of chlorinated wastes and has advantages over oxidative destruction methods such as thermal incineration and catalytic oxidation. Some of these advantages include the ability to reuse the reaction products, and minimal production of harmful byproducts, such as CI2, COCI2, or fragments of parent chlorocarbons. 1,1,1- Trichloroethane was chosen for this research because it is widely used in industry as a solvent and is on the EPA Hazardous Air Pollutant list as a toxic air contaminant and ozone depleter. ... 

The Danish minister of environment in 1988 announced that within a few years the manufacture and use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products had to be reduced as much as technically and economically possible due to their environmental impacts of production, use, and disposal. This preventive environmental policy was mainly based on the emission of hydrogen chloride and dioxins from waste incineration. A study of the technical, economic, and environmental consequences of a substitution was initiated by the National Agency of Environmental Protection. The goal was to collect background data for the upcoming negotiations between the environmental authorities and PVC-industry and manufacturers of PVC products in Denmark. The environmental assessment focused on PVC and 11 alternative materials, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephtalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PUR), synthetic rubbers (EPDM, CR and SBR), paper, impregnated wood, and aluminum. ... 

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