Table Of ContentSpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
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ThisvolumecollectsselectedtopicalentriesfromtheEncyclopediaofSustainabilityScience
andTechnology(ESST).ESSTaddressesthegrandchallengesforscienceandengineering
today. It provides unprecedented, peer-reviewed coverage of sustainability science and
technology with contributions from nearly 1,000 of the world’s leading scientists and
engineers, who write onmore than600separate topicsin 38sections. ESST establishes a
foundationfortheresearch,engineering,andeconomicssupportingthemanysustainability
andpolicyevaluationsbeingperformedininstitutionsworldwide.
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERTA.MEYERS,RAMTECHLIMITED,Larkspur,CA,USA
EditorialBoard
RITAR.COLWELL,DistinguishedUniversityProfessor,CenterforBioinformaticsand
ComputationalBiology,UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark,MD,USA
ANDREASFISCHLIN,TerrestrialSystemsEcology,ETH-Zentrum,Zu¨rich,Switzerland
DONALD A. GLASER, Glaser Lab, University of California, Berkeley, Department of
Molecular&CellBiology,Berkeley,CA,USA
TIMOTHYL.KILLEEN,NationalScienceFoundation,Arlington,VA,USA
HAROLDW.KROTO,FrancisEppesProfessorofChemistry,DepartmentofChemistry
andBiochemistry,TheFloridaStateUniversity,Tallahassee,FL,USA
AMORYB.LOVINS,Chairman&ChiefScientist,RockyMountainInstitute,Snowmass,
USA
LORD ROBERT MAY, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1
3PS,UK
DANIELL.MCFADDEN,DirectorofEconometricsLaboratory,UniversityofCalifornia,
Berkeley,CA,USA
THOMASC.SCHELLING,3105TydingsHall,DepartmentofEconomics,Universityof
Maryland,CollegePark,MD,USA
CHARLESH.TOWNES,557Birge,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,CA,USA
EMILIOAMBASZ,EmilioAmbasz&Associates,Inc.,NewYork,NY,USA
CLARE BRADSHAW, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University,
Stockholm,Sweden
TERRY COFFELT, Research Geneticist, Arid Land Agricultural Research Center,
Maricopa,AZ,USA
MEHRDAD EHSANI, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Texas A&M
University,CollegeStation,TX,USA
ALI EMADI, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Illinois Institute of
Technology,Chicago,IL,USA
CHARLESA.S.HALL,CollegeofEnvironmentalScience&Forestry,StateUniversity
ofNewYork,Syracuse,NY,USA
RIK LEEMANS, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University,
Wageningen,TheNetherlands
KEITH LOVEGROVE, Department of Engineering (Bldg 32), The Australian National
University,Canberra,Australia
TIMOTHY D. SEARCHINGER, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University,
Princeton,NJ,USA
Alfons Buekens
Incineration Technologies
AlfonsBuekens
VrijeUniversiteitBrussel,VUB
Brussels,Belgium
andZhejiangUniversity
Hangzhou,China
ThecontentsofthisbookfirstappearedaspartoftheEncyclopediaofSustainabilityScienceandTechnology
editedbyRobertA.Meyers,originallypublishedbySpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYorkin2012.
ISSN2191-530X ISSN2191-5318(electronic)
ISBN978-1-4614-5751-0 ISBN978-1-4614-5752-7(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-1-4614-5752-7
SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012954265
#SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork2013
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Contents
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
DefinitionoftheSubject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 EvaluationofWasteIncineration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 WasteIncineration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 IncineratorFurnacesandBoilers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 SelectionofIncineratorFurnaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6 Refuse-DerivedFuel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7 PublicImageofIncineration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
8 FutureDirections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
v
Glossary
Airequivalence Also,airratioorairfactor,(lork),isratioofactualairsupply
ratio to the theoretical (stoichiometric) requirements for complete
combustion.
Combustion Ash remaining after combustion and consisting of bottom-ash
residues or clinker, and of fly ash, entrained by flue gas and eventually
separated.Chemicalneutralizationoffluegasalsoyieldssalts,
byreactionofacidgascomponentswithbasicadditives.
Emissions Outputofpollutantsthroughthestack(=guidedemissions),to
a minor extent also as diffuse emission, e.g., from waste pit,
evaporationofspills,spreadingofflyash,andoutgoingleaks.
Gasification Partial combustion generating flammable gas and conducted
withdeficiencyofairinvariousreactortypes.
Higherheating Amountofheatproducedbycompletecombustionofaspecific
value(HHV) unitamountoffuelinoxygen.
Immission Added atmospheric concentrations attributed to specific
sources, e.g., an incinerator plant, and markedly varying with
atmospheric conditions. Immissions are modeled on a basis of
(a)emissions,(b)theirdispersion,and(c)accordingtovariable
atmosphericconditions(winddirectionandspeed,atmospheric
stability).
Municipalsolid Wasteproducedinacityandcollectedbythemunicipality.
waste(MSW)
Pyrolysis Thermochemical decomposition of organic material in
the absence of oxygen, yielding gaseous (pyrolysis gas), con-
densable(tar),andsolidproducts(char).
Refuse-derived Fuelfromwaste,producedbymechanicalprocessing,(possibly
fuel(RDF) biological),drying,andpossiblydensification.
Waste-to-energy Incineration process in which solid waste is converted into
(WtE) thermal energyto generate steam that drives turbinesfor elec-
tricitygenerators(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/
waste-to-energy.html).
vii
Definition of the Subject
Wasteincinerationistheartofcompletelycombustingwaste,whilemaintainingor
reducing emission levels below current emission standards and, when possible,
recoveringenergy,aswellaseventual combustionresidues.Essentialfeaturesare
as follows: achieving a deep reduction in waste volume; obtaining a compact
and sterile residue, yet treating a voluminous flow of flue gas while deeply
eliminatingawidearrayofpollutants.
Destructionbyfireisalmostasoldashumanity.Incinerationwassystematically
appliedatsomelocations,bothinEnglandandtheUSA,fromthesecondhalfofthe
nineteenthcentury[1–4].Furnaceswidelydifferedinconception,yetwerestillpoked
andde-ashedmanually.Asuccessfulfurnacedesignwasthecellfurnace,composed
of a series of juxtaposed combustion cells with a fixed grate, or also with two
superposed retractable grates [4–6]. In 1895, the first large continental incinerator
wasmountedinHamburg[7]aftertraditionalexporttothecountrysideofmunicipal
solidwaste(MSW)wasjeopardizedbyanoutbreakofcholera.
The technology was strongly inspired by that of coal firing: mechanical grate
stokersdevelopedfromthe1920sand1930swerecontinuouslyimprovedtosuitthe
specialrequirementsoffiringwasteanddistributingprimaryair,whilecoolingthe
grate bars [4, 8]. After World War II, fluidized bed techniques were introduced
mainly in the Nordic countries, where MSW was co-fired together with forest
products and residues from pulp and paper industry, and also in Japan, where the
suitability of fluidized bed combustors for one- or two-shift operation was valued
[9–11].Slaggingoperation,withtappingofmoltenresidue,remainedunusualuntil
theendofthetwentiethcentury;thenitbecamemandatoryinJapantomeltflyash
anddestroyitsorganiccontents,whileeithervolatilizingorimmobilizingitsheavy
metal content by conversion into a glassy state (vitrification) [12]. A search
on “melting” yields more than 130 different processes, as proposed by numerous
Japanesecorporations[13].
Gasification of waste, a partial combustion conducted with deficiency of air,
yieldsflammablegas,suitableascleanedgaseousfuelorevenfordrivingenginesor
turbines[9,13–16].Thisthermalconversionmethodismainlyaptforhigh-calorific
ix
