Trading off Clean Process Technology Options

Combustion in a thermal oxidizer is the only practical way to deal with many waste streams. This is particularly true of solid and concentrated waste and toxic wastes such as those containing halogenated hydrocarbons, pesticides, herbicides, and so on. Many of the toxic substances encountered resist biological degradation and persist in the natural environment for a long period. Unless they are in dilute aqueous solution, the most effective treatment is usually thermal oxidation. 

Hearth thermal oxidizers. This type of thermal oxidizer is primarily designed to oxidize solid waste. Solids are moved through the combustion chamber mechanically using a rake. 

The policy for waste heat recovery from the flue gas varies between different operators. Thermal oxidizers located on the waste producer s site tend to be fitted with waste heat recovery systems, usually steam generation, which is fed into the site steam mains. Merchant operators, who treat other people s waste and operate in isolation remotely from the waste producers, tend not to fit heat recovery 

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