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CUSTOMIZATION OF CONVENTIONAL INCINERATION PROCESS G. Anand Nambi, A. Vigneshwar B.E Second year students, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Velammal Engineering College, Surapet, Chennai-66 ABSTRACT: The principal objective of this paper is to produce intended output in the process of incineration. Incineration has following disadvantages:
1. Incineration reduces the volume of garbage considerably but it doesnt

completely solve the problem because ash which remains must still be landfilled.
2. Emissions from incinerators can include heavy metals, dioxins and furans,

which are detrimental to human health. These emissions are released due to incomplete combustion of wastes.
3. Dioxin and furans are carcinogenic and has irreparable environmental health

consequences. These emissions and ash can be controlled or used effectively by adopting following methods,

Bottom ash that is produced can be used in cement industries to increase the strength of cement. The method to control emission of fly ash and other unwanted impurities is use of scrubbers and filters. Dioxin the most lethal POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutant) can be completely destroyed by maintaining a homogeneous high temperature with sufficient residue time (less than 2sec). Complete combustion of waste can be obtained by slow continuous feed rate and ensuring a surplus of oxygen by sending combustion air into the boiler at high speed or maintaining a low pressure region. The heat generated by incineration can be used to run conventional steam turbines and thermopiles can also be used to generate electric current.

The waste-to-energy program to maximize energy recovery is adopted such as gasification, pyrolysis, etc.

It was found that incineration is effective method of waste disposal when combined with some recycling and controlling techniques thereby producing electric power and thus releasing less emission to atmosphere. INTRODUCTION: Garbage disposal has been a long-standing problem and will continue to be a problem in the future. As the population of the world continues to increase, so will the garbage produced. It is therefore important to seek out the ways that can best be employed to minimize the amount of garbage. There are many methods to dispose the waste like dumping, landfill, composting, open firing, incineration etc. Incineration will be the most effective method of disposal, compared to above garbage disposal methods. Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. It converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and heat. The emissions from incinerator are harmful to environment. The waste disposal policies in recent years involve these topics: 1. Reduction in emission of dioxin (DXNs), 2. Stabilisation of fly ash, 3. Contribution of waste to energy technology. In this paper, new type of incineration technology has been applied to industrial scale which ensures low emission of dioxins, recycling of ash, NOx reduction, appropriate flue gas treatment, high efficient generation of electricity to demonstrate the validity of technology. CONVENTIONAL INCINERATION PROCESS: The incinerator process is relatively simple to understand. Garbage is brought to the site and then fed into the incinerator by means of cranes or other feeding systems. The waste is then burnt in the grate at a temperature 1000-1300C. The combustion is controlled by auxiliary oil burners fitted to the furnace wall. The unburned gas is completely burned in the secondary combustion chamber.

Figure 1- Typical MSW incinerator (Fixed Bed incinerator)

The hot out coming gas (called flue gas) is fed into heat exchanger where indirect gas cooling with the outside air takes place. Thereafter the dust and fly ash in the flue gas is removes using a double cyclone and the gas is released to atmosphere through stack by an induced draft fan. The gates for discharging of incineration ash and incombustibles are provided at the bottom of incinerator. There are different types of MSW incinerators. Here fixed bed incinerator is discussed. Mass burn and Modular incinerators take the waste directly without any pre-processing. Pre-processing involves preparing the waste stream in such a manner as to improve the combustibility of the garbage. This is done by sorting, shredding, and separating the waste before incinerating it. DISADVANTAGES OF CONVENTIONAL INCINERATOR: Incineration poses environmental problems and other possible problems as well. The large stacks that emit the excess heat and gases from the waste contribute to the greenhouse effect. The emissions coming from the stacks of incineration plants consist of other potentially harmful substances like particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, furans, sulphur dioxide, and by hydrochloric acid that pollute the air. These emissions can be distributed through other media such as plants, water, soil, and in animals. The emissions can thus become a part of the food chain which can lead to further exposure. Dioxins and Furans are carcinogenic substances. CUSTOMISED INCINERATION PROCESS: In order to control these emissions and to increase the efficiency of incinerator following methods are suggested.

Dioxin control (DXNs):

Dioxins are organic molecules, composed by Hydrogen-, Chlorine-and Oxygen atoms. They consist of two chlorinated benzene rings, coupled to each other by one or two oxygen atoms. The more chlorine, the more toxic and the more stable become the dioxin. Their formation is mainly due to incomplete combustion and presence of chlorine. Due to their extreme stability, dioxins can only be totally destroyed by: -homogenous high temperature (< 850C) -excess of oxygen (<6 %) -sufficient residence time at high temperature (<2 sec) The dioxin molecules tend to crack into smaller but reactive ones. The formation of dioxin can be prevented by assuring complete combustion at all times. This can be achieved by slow continuous and homogenous feed rate.

1) The rotation of the kiln produces a continuous mixing of the burning material

with the freshly supplied oxygen, creating the ideal conditions for a complete combustion. The combustion temperature is generated by self-ignition of the waste and hence the heat is very homogenously distributed throughout the system.

Figure 2- Rotary kiln furnace employed in conventional incineration process

2) Utilisation of oxygen enriched primary air promotes intense firing of the waste

bed on grate so that unburnt combustibles (CO, DXNs, etc.) remaining in flue gas are reduced and ash quality is also improved. Recirculated flue gas as secondary air improves the mixing of combustion gas in furnace to complete gaseous combustion.

Figure 3- Oxygen enriched Incinerator combustion system

3) The eventually formed dioxin which get probably absorbed by fly ash particles

are captured by bag filter and can be removed by pelletizing it and then reburned in a BFB reactor (Bubbling Fluidized Bed) with less chlorine content.

Figure 4- Fly ash pellets

The efficiency of the DXN reduction in pellet matrix is proportional to incineration time,temperature,and degree of pellet. At 800 C and incineration time sufficient for a complete burnout, the efficiency of DXN reduction was found to be 99.7%.

4) Dioxins tend to adsorb on certain porous surfaces, such as (sintered) solid

particles which are present in the flue gas flow and also, but more specifically, on activated carbon. By this eventually remaining dioxin can be captured.

Recycling of Bottom Ash: The ash that is left over after incineration is usually 1/5 to 1/10 the volume of the waste that was incinerated. The ash contains toxic materials that must be dealt with. Ash that is left over is called bottom ash. Ash the escapes the plant and is released through the stack is called fly ash. So this again needs a mode of disposal. Though a great number of important results have been reported on the use of fly ash in concrete however the bottom ash was replaced with fine aggregates and are used to increase the flexural strength and durability of concrete. When the bottom ash from incinerator is divided into bottom ash fine and coarse fraction, the dioxin and heavy metals get mustered to bottom ash fine fraction which is recirculated to furnace and retreated under oxygen enriched high temperature environment. This helps in improvement of ash qualities without ash melting furnace.

Figure 5- Bottom ash recirculation system

Flexural strength of bottom ash concrete containing 30% bottom ash is acceptable for most structural applications. Bottom ash used as fine aggregates replacement enables the large utilization of waste product.

Figure 6- Bottom ash sample

High efficiency power generation: In the conventional MSW boilers the steam conditions are kept to lower levels because of chlorine, hydrogen chloride gas, etc. This leads to corrosion of boiler tubes. As a result power generation efficiency was confined to 5%. However the efficiency as high as 30% or over can be ensured by using anti-corrosive steel tubes for boiler tube and high pressure recovery obtained from the clean combustion flue gas with less chlorine content produced during the thermal cracking of waste. Further the efficiency can be improved to 2% by increasing the steam temperature by using high grade materials and using high pressure boiler.

Figure 7-Oxygen enriched Incinerator combustion system with enhanced power generation

The high pressure and high temperature steam is used to run steam turbines which is attached to generator and in turn produces electricity. Thermocouples can also be used to generate low power by maintaining junction at different temperature.

CONCLUSION: Environmental issues are becoming more and more severe all over the world and result in a strong demand for environmentally friendly waste incineration plants. The big issue of dioxin emission and power generation efficiency is solved. More incinerators are being erected today than ever before which indicates that it is either more widely accepted. An incinerator does cause some problems, as has been discussed, but it seems that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and that incineration is a relatively effective method for garbage disposal with high reliability and low environmental burdens.

REFERENCES: 1) Rubel, Fred N. Incineration of Solid Wastes. New Jersey: Noyes Data Corporation
2) Report of BIC Group waste to Energy.

3) Wikipedia free encyclopedia 4) Google search engine