The best option for disposal of waste

INCINERATION

DEFINITION
Old The process of burning, setting fire to or destroying New An engineered process using controlled flame combustion to thermally degrade waste materials

INCINERATOR EVOLUTION
Open burning Single-chamber incinerators Multi-chamber incinerators Addition of gas scrubbing equipment Increase in temperature and residence time Heat recovery Continuous Emission Monitoring Complete automation

WHY INCINERATION IS PREFERRED

Waste volume reduced to less than 5% At sufficiently high temperature and residence time, any hydrocarbon vapour can be oxidised to carbon dioxide and water Relatively simple devices capable of achieving very high removal efficiencies Heat can be recovered Avoids contamination by reducing infectiousness / pollutant levels Most Gases are Burnt - well designed systems will give no visible smoke or odour Easy to maintain ONLY SOLUTION FOR CERTAIN WASTE TYPES

INCINERATION SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Waste pre-treatment - pre-heating or shredding Waste loading systems conveyors, hoppers, sprayers, etc. Burner management system Combustion chambers Heat recovery Air pollution control device Stack discharge Ash disposal Emission monitoring systems

DESIRABLE FEATURES OF INCINERATORS

INCINERATORS are designed to efficiently and safely burn waste at specified rates and temperatures, with the residium ash containing NO combustible material. ! Air and Fuel are mixed in correct proportion ! Regulated combustion air ! Minimum exhaust gas residence time 1-2 seconds in the secondary chamber ! Proper residence time to obtain complete burnout ! Provide for creating Turbulence in Combustion Chamber ! High Temperature and Chemical resistant Refractory Lining ! Satisfy and Exceed Pollution Control Norms

RETORT MULTIPLE-CHAMBER INCINERATOR

Extremely LOW NOx level Emission:At times<1mg/Nm3 LOW SPM due to GREATER Turbulence BETTER Emission Values

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

Gravity settling chambers An expansion chamber where particle velocity is reduced, thus allowing the particle to settle out under the action of gravity Cyclones Particles in the gas stream are forced to turn, larger particles with high momentum collide with the wall and are collected Electrostatic precipitators ionisation of the gas stream, enabling collision with particles and subsequent collection Fabric filters Removal of dust from a gas stream by means of a porous fabric Venturi scrubbers Reduction in cross-sectional area in gas flow path, increased velocity, increased pressure drop, causing particles to shear water droplets Hybrid systems combination of above systems in series

COMBUSTION SYSTEM TO ELIMINATE EVAPORATED SOLVENTS AND ODOUR FROM WASTE GAS

 Myth No incinerator manufactured in India meets current norms. Fact Incinerator design in India is already in a fairly advanced stage. Many companies are in the process of exporting machines to Europe and North America.
EMISSION VALUES OF HAAT INCINERATORS
(Based on test reports from different State Pollution Control Boards and Authorised Test Houses)

MYTHS AND FACTS

Values (in mg/Nm3)

450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

MPCB RSPCB MPPCB Test House Limit

SPM

NOx

SO2

HCl

Emission parameter
Note: All values above are without scrubbing

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth Incineration is an outdated western technology that is being dumped on gullible countries like India. Incineration is banned in most western countries. Fact Far from being banned, this is the status in 3 developed nations United States Currently, over 90% of potentially infectious medical waste is incinerated.
Source United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/medical/mwfaqs.htm

Germany The arguments against waste incineration plants in particular are still found in many places in the world where such facilities are planned. Today, however, technologies are available which have made waste incineration a clean and environmentally sound form of waste management, so that such opposition is now unfounded.
Source Federal Environment Ministry. www.bmu.de/english/fset1024.php

Australia Incineration is the only permitted method of destruction of medical wastes in South Australia.
Source South Australian Environmental Protection Authority. www.environment.sa.gov.au/epa/pdfs/wastediscussion.pdf

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth All incinerators and only incinerators produce dioxins. Fact Dioxins are generated in residential fireplaces, open burning, home grills, diesel engines, paper mills, pesticide and wood-preservative manufacturing, chemical industries, etc. Dioxins are generally formed in the lower temperature range and only in the presence of halogens like chlorine. An incinerator testing programme in Canada showed that concentrations of dioxins and furans tend to be effectively destroyed when the temperature is raised to 1200C. Myth Banning incinerators will ensure a cleaner atmosphere. Fact - Modern systems achieve excellent emission. To ensure a cleaner atmosphere, why not ban all automobiles also and reduce lead, benzene and suspended particulate matter emissions? If you compare an incinerators emission to the vehicles traversing on a busy road, you will find that CO emissions from the vehicles will be 47 times higher.

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth Incineration has the worst environmental impact compared to other methods of managing waste. Fact All methods like recycling, composting, landfilling and incineration have similar environmental impacts. Comparison of impacts is difficult because alternative systems generate different pollutants having various toxicities, effects, risks and modes, affect different populations and ecosystems. Analysis of health risks from dioxins and trace metals in composting and incineration processes indicate that because human exposure to these substances may be greater through food chain pathways than through inhalation pathways, the risks may actually be greater from composting. The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment (USCOTA) says in a report, It is not possible to quantitatively determine whether recycling produces more or less pollutants, or poses greater or fewer risks, per ton of material processed than do incineration or landfilling.

CONCLUSION
Modern incineration technology has advanced to a stage where previous doubts are now unfounded The focus should be more on how to reduce amounts of waste generated Pollution prevention should be based on limiting the amount of waste produced upfront, rather than developing extensive treatment processes downstream