WASTE INCINERATION TECHNOLOGY

A. Buekens
Department of Chemical Engineering - CHIS 2, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Keywords: Fluidized Bed Combustors, Mechanical Grate Incinerators, Multiple Hearth
Furnaces, Rotary Kiln Incinerators, (Vertical) Shaft Furnace, Submerged Combustion, Vortex
Combustion
Contents
1. Selection of Incinerator Furnaces
2. Gaseous and Liquid Wastes
3. Solid wastes
4. Mechanical Grate Incinerators
5. Rotary Kiln Incinerators
6. The Combustion Cone
7. Shaft Furnaces
8. Multiple Hearth Furnaces
9. Rotary Hearth Furnaces
10. Vortex Combustors
11. Fluidized Bed Incinerators
12. Slagging Operation
13. Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Related Chapters
Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketch
Summary
This chapter reviews various incinerator furnace types, classified according to their most
salient features and usual applications. Mechanical grate incinerators are applied for
incinerating household refuse, rotary kilns for industrial waste, and fluidized bed units for
sewage sludge.
Incinerator furnaces can be classified according to the types of wastes accepted (gas/liquid vs.
solids), the method of exposing burning material to combustion air, improving mixing and
increasing turbulence, the use of auxiliary media promoting heat transfer and mixing, and dry
or wet methods of ash extraction. In the first, residues are extracted as solids, whereas wet
bottom or slagging operation refers to their tapping as a melt.
1. Selection of Incinerator Furnaces
Incineration is a method of thermally reducing the volume of combustible waste, to cinders,
while fly ash is entrained by flue gas.
Since burning in the open (using simple means, e.g. a pit, etc.) is highly polluting, a furnace is
needed to achieve adequate control of combustion conditions, draft, and emissions.
The selection of a particular type of incinerator furnace depends on the types of wastes to be
incinerated, on plant capacity, operating schedule, amount, nature and softening point of the

ash to be handled, etc. Small incinerators often operate in a one or two shift schedule, but
continuous operation is always to be preferred, since it enhances useful capacity and reduces

auxiliary fuel requirements during start-up,

thermal wear of refractories, and
plant emissions.

Start-up and shutdown periods are much more polluting and there is strong tendency to allow
only pure fuel to be burnt during these periods.
In small or batch-operated plants without heat recovery flue gas is often cooled by injecting
cooling water, or by admixing cooling air. These methods typically increase the gas flow at
standard temperature and pressure by 30 - 50 percent for water injection in cooling towers and
by 300 - 400 percent for admixing air, which quite considerably inflates investment and
operating costs of the gas cleaning plant.
In large-scale incinerators heat recovery using waste heat or integrated boilers is
considered to be appropriate for cooling the flue gas prior to cleaning, provided that the steam
generated can be used for in-plant or other useful purposes, such as power generation, district
heating, water desalination, sludge drying, vacuum generation, etc. Still, heat recovery takes
place under adverse conditions (fouling and corrosive flue gas), requiring considerable
supplemental investment and diminishing plant availability. These disadvantages may be
offset by generating revenues, and avoiding the extra cost of requiring much larger gas
cleaning plant. Moreover, since it is more sustainable, recovery is often mandatory regardless
of economic factors.
Normally medium pressure boilers (1.5-5 MPa) are preferred, avoiding both high-temperature
(super-heater surfaces) and dew point corrosion problems. Since fly ash is often tacky above
600 C the contact surfaces are preceded by radiant cooling surfaces and specially designed
for

limiting deposition and adherence of hot, sticky particles,

convenient cleaning (rapping of panels, soot blowing, shot cleaning of
tube banks) and
easy inspection.

During a furnace standstill it is advisable to keep the boiler tubes hot, by means of imported
steam in order to avoid corrosion by hygroscopic acidic deposits, such as chlorides.
The operating temperature of incinerators depends on:

the calorific value of waste,

the excess of air applied,
the cooling of the furnace by an integrated boiler, and
the initial temperature of air and waste streams.

Some plants operate under slagging conditions, at temperatures at which the combustion
residue is molten and can be tapped in that state. It is important to ensure a steady slag flow
by:

carefully controlling the composition of the ash at a suitable eutectic

composition; iron silicates and glass are examples of compositions with an
accessible melting point,
providing auxiliary burners and, when required,
fluxes such as fluorspar, to enhance slag fluidity.
Gaseous and liquid waste can be completely combusted using low excess of air as far as their
composition is sufficiently predictable and constant. In principle, much larger excess is
required when firing solid waste, except in incinerator types featuring excellent air/solids
contact, e.g. fluidized bed or vortex units. Lower air-flow lengthens residence times in a given
volume and reduces entrainment of fly ash with flue gases.
The volumetric heat release rate is determined by the quality of the contact with the
combustion air and fuel reactivity, which decreases with larger size, higher moisture content
and lower energy value. Since combustion intensity is unevenly distributed over the furnace
volume, the latter should be defined carefully, when citing values for the heat release rate.
Dead zones consume sizeable fractions of furnace volume, reducing real residence times and
combustion efficiency. The residence time of gaseous and liquid wastes in an incinerator
amounts to only few seconds. The residence time required for complete combustion of solids
is generally about half an hour, except for high intensity-incinerators, firing a Refuse-Derived
Fuel obtained by combining shredding, sieving, air classification, and magnetic separation.
Some plants for bulky loads were operated on a full-day burning, nighttime cooling cycle. For
fuel-economy and environmental reasons such practices are no longer recommended.
Designing simple incinerators is much simpler today than it was in the 1960s or 1970s, when
only an empirical approach was feasible. Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) easily derives the
flow and mixing characteristics, the rates of heat generation and the temperature and flow
fields. Moreover, the trajectories of particles of various sizes can be predicted stochastically.
The operating limits of furnaces may be dictated by various considerations, e.g.:

Heat balances, and the related high and low operating temperature limits,
Excessive, adequate, or insufficient thermal load,
Flame and combustion stability,
Adequate coverage of a mechanical grates, and
Provision of sufficient combustion air.

Furnace types can be classified, according to:

the methods used for contacting wastes with combustion air (e.g. in cocurrent, counter-current, or cross-current flow; measures for mechanical
and pneumatic agitation),
the degree of filling the incinerator with solid material,
dry ash or slagging conditions (wet-bottom furnaces).

2. Gaseous and Liquid Wastes

2.1. Stationary Furnaces
Stationary furnaces (see Thermal and Catalytic Combustion) consist of a horizontal or
vertical, box-type or cylindrical, refractory-lined combustion chamber, fitted with burners.
The main purposes of the resulting enclosure are to:

limit the cooling of the flame and combustion chamber

organize the flows of incoming air and outgoing flue gas, without
undesirable dead corners, entries of false (uncontrolled) air, or diffuse
spreading of fumes.

Avoiding smoke requires operating at slightly sub-atmospheric pressure, since refractory

furnace walls are always leaky. For this reason furnaces formed from welded membrane steel
or boiler tube panels are very popular.
The selection of waste burners, their position, flame orifice, air supplies, mixing and thermal
buoyancy characteristics are prime factors determining performance. The mixing
characteristics of the furnace are improved by suitable injection of secondary air enhancing
back mixing of flue gas and (in early units) providing periodic changes in the direction of flue
gas flow.
Where required, a separate post combustion chamber is used, with its temperature controlled
by an auxiliary burner. Heat release rates are high when burning high calorific gases or
atomized liquids; they are much lower when burning sludge or wastewater.
The stationary furnace is used for burning gaseous and liquid waste flows, including offgases, solvents, oils, wastewater, pumpable sludge and meltable and paste-like waste streams.
Plastics proper are difficult to fire, for liquid burners will spin threads of molten plastics.
Special burners fire several streams simultaneously, e.g. auxiliary fuel, waste oil, wastewater,
and pumpable sludge.
Alternatively, various wastes may be injected either into a stable flame or tangentially to it.
Wastewater may be largely evaporated in a forced circulation evaporator and then radially
blown into the flame of an oil burner.
The main technical limitation is the lack of provisions for eliminating ash or other residues.
Ideally, the ash is fine and high melting and blown out of the furnace, then separated by the
Air Pollution Control units.
2.2. Submerged Combustion
In Submerged Combustion the flue gases are quenched instantaneously upon leaving the
furnace, to stop further reaction (e.g. the oxidation of HCl to chlorine or dioxins formation),
or when acid, brine or other solutions must be concentrated by directly contacting hot flue
gases and the liquor to be treated. Heat and mass transfer between flue gas and liquid quench
are very fast: the flue gas is almost completely saturated with water vapor and leaves
substantially at the temperature of the bath.

Figure 1: Submerged Combustor

The plant consists of an elongated, slender, vertical furnace, as a downcomer tube plunging
into a bath maintained in a wider container. A concentric tube frequently surrounds the
downcomer, the formed annular space acting as an airlift and promoting internal mixing of the
quenching bath.
Submerged combustors are used for:

Quenching and cleaning the flue gas;

Concentrating wastewaters or corrosive acids;
Recovering a solution of inorganic salts, when firing aqueous solutions of
organic salts;
Recovering dilute hydrochloric acid when firing chlorinated wastes.
Submerged combustors may have a vertical, refractory lined steel shell equipped at the top
with a down-firing auxiliary burner. Liquid waste is atomized and injected into the flame, so
that they are rapidly dried, thermally decomposed and completely combusted. The inorganic
compounds are converted to molten salt particles and flow into the quench vessel, to be
recovered as a salt solution or slurry. Another design features a fractionating column on top of
the water vessel. Wastewater, contaminated with volatile hydrocarbons is fed on top of the
column and the hydrocarbons are stripped off in contact with a rising mixture of flue gas and
water vapor. After condensation of the vapors the condensed heavier hydrocarbons are
recycled to the quench vessel. The non-condensable are combusted.

3. Solid Wastes
3.1. Classification
Distinction is made between small, dedicated plants for firing local trash, packaging, or
pathological waste, with a capacity of few to about two hundred kg h -1, huge Municipal Solid
Waste (MSW) incinerators, totaling a capacity of 50 000 to 500 000 tons year -1 distributed
over several lines, and dedicated rotary kiln or fluidized bed units for specific industrial
waste, of intermediate capacity (5 000 to 50 000 tons year-1).
A second distinction is made between firing on a floor, a fixed or a mechanical grate, offering
a residence time varying from most of a day to
hour, and energetic firing
arrangements only operating on either coarsely shredded or finely divided waste.
3.2. Logistics and Storage
Small local units were formerly installed in apartment buildings, combining a chute-fed,
chimney-combined furnace. These have essentially disappeared, obliterated by current codes
on emissions. In isolated U.S. homes and farms trash is still processed by barrel burning, a
most polluting business.
Refuse is brought by collection vehicles, barges, rail, or containers, and discharged into a
deep, waterproofed concrete bunker of ample volume (Europe and Japan) or stored on a dump
floor (USA) and moved by tractors to steel slat elevators. The storage serves for bridging the
gaps between supply and incineration. Moreover, mixing wastes of different origins in the
bunker, e.g. garden districts, apartments, or commercial, helps in providing a homogenized
furnace feed.
Waste is mixed, stacked, and fed into the furnace hoppers by means of traveling cranes, with a
voluminous grapple for handling waste. After descending in the load shaft the feed is metered
and fed to the furnace and onto the grate using positive-displacement table or ram feeders
with adjustable stroke length and frequency.
3.3. Operating Principles
Solid waste is sometimes fed batch-wise, but generally periodically and on the basis of
positive mechanical action, exerted using a programmable and controllable (timing and stroke
length) hydraulic drive. Periodic loading relies on dust-free systems (a two-slide lock, table or
ram feeder). Regular feeding of relatively small amounts is best. Continuous feeding is only
possible with a sized material, e.g., shredded fluff or wood shavings. These can be fed by an
underfeed screw conveyor, a spreader stoker, a belt/chute system, or a pneumatic conveyer.
Many types of waste have awkward handling characteristics, showing no definite angle of
repose, being abrasive (glass, sand), yet sticky, tending towards bridging over chutes,
clogging passages, and solidifying upon storage.
Solids are burned on the furnace floor or on a grate. Large capacity incinerators, using
mechanical grates, are discussed below. Originally, grates were developed for firing lump coal
and they exert various duties, namely:

Supporting, moving, agitating and poking the burning solids;

Distributing primary air that travels through the burning layer and
activates the fire while cooling the grate.

In these units, volumetric heat release rates are relatively low, especially when firing moist
and dense solid waste. Primary air is introduced through slots between the grate bars, or
through holes in the combustion floor.
Pollution codes require furnaces to be preheated by auxiliary burners prior to the feeding of
waste. Small incinerators with irregular, batch loading normally require careful post
combustion to avoid intolerable levels of PICs.
The solid residue is removed daily and manually in small units, or when the ash content of
waste is very low. Larger quantities are removed from an ash pit by periodic movement of a
cooled scraper or by pneumatic, hydraulic, screw or drag conveyors, serving hoppers. The
formation of large cinders may jeopardize the operation of such systems. Hence, the amount,
thermal consistency and sintering tendency of ash must be carefully considered: low
temperature units supply a fine and friable ash, but rising temperatures cause it to sinter, first
forming loosely coherent cinders, evolving later to strong and large slag agglomerates. There
is a range in between dry and wet-bottom furnaces, in which smooth slag extraction is
virtually impossible, due to its unpredictable thermal behavior. A water bath closes the
incinerator at the residue discharge end, quenching the residues.
Some incinerators are provided with supplemental burners for firing waste gases or liquids
(e.g. oily waste). These streams are fired either above the burning solids, or in a separate post
combustion chamber.
Solid waste incinerators range, depending on their capacity, from small back door or flue-fed
apartment incinerators (obsolete by the start of the 1970s, following the introduction of air
pollution codes) to gigantic municipal waste incinerators, generally generating power and
procuring district heating. Many enterprises used stationary small to medium-sized
incinerators for disposal of packaging and garbage. Special units have been developed for the
disposal of tires, plastics and other production wastes.
The historical Polyma furnace is a well-known example of such a stationary incinerator. It
consists of a horizontal combustion chamber, followed by a post-combustion chamber, a gas
cooler and some air pollution control equipment. Solid waste, such as tires, can be fed by a
rake-shaped, internally cooled feeder mechanism. When combustion is completed the feeder
revolves over half a turn and becomes a scraper-ash-extractor. Multi-fuel burners burn liquid
and finely divided solids in support; sludge can be sprayed into the furnace by nozzles.
BASF pioneered the development of industrial waste incinerators at Ludwigshafen.
Originally, it used a vertical stationary furnace for incinerating wastes, contained in bags or
barrels. The latter was introduced into a lock, then holed to allow draining the contents and,
when necessary, heated. Rotary kilns later replaced this type of furnace.
4. Mechanical Grate Incinerators
4.1. Principles
Mechanical grate stokers were originally developed for coal. Traveling grates support the fuel,
while conveying it through the furnace, from feeding to ash-discharging side. Staircase grates
provide some tumbling, when fuel drops from one section to the next. Reciprocating grates
feature individual grate bars, mounted on fixed frames or slideable sledges; moving the sledge
conveys the overlaying fuel and turns it over that, resting on bars from fixed frames.

Most grates are subdivided into successive and distinct drying, combustion and burnout
sections, sometimes separated by small walls, where waste tumbles from one level to the next.
The position of the fire is controlled by the mechanical action of the grate, which supports,
conveys, and stirs the refuse during combustion. The most common types of grate are
reciprocating, reverse reciprocating, roller, rocking and traveling grates. Proprietary, patented
devices provide controlled motion, poking, mixing, and sifting ash between individual grate
bars.
4.2. Operating Principles - Construction
Primary combustion air is supplied under the various grate sections to cool the grate and
accelerate the burnout of the residue. Today less primary air is used, reducing dust
entrainment and the flow of flue gas per unit, and improving thermal efficiency.
Air requirements for drying refuse or burning out clinker residue are quite low, but supply is
ill-adapted to real requirements when active combustion takes place. The vapor and gases,
resulting from drying and heating the refuse, and oxygen-deficient strands of combustion
products are thoroughly mixed by means of powerful jets of secondary air, blown in through
high-velocity nozzles, located at the exit of the combustion chamber. The flue gas is cooled by
a waste heat boiler or
in a small plant - by injection of water into a cooling tower.
Finally the flue gas is cleaned by an electrostatic precipitator, scrubbed from acid gases,
dioxins are adsorbed on activated carbon or destroyed using a DeNOx-catalyst, and drawn
into the stack by an induced-draft fan.
Typical operating conditions are: 850 - 1050 C, excess air of 80 - 200 percent (there is a
strong tendency to limit it to 6
9 volume percent of oxygen). Some operating
conditions are specified by Codes, e.g. in the E.U.-Directive 2000/76/EC:
Minimum operating temperatures of 850 C and minimum residence
time of two seconds at this temperature;
Minimum level of six volume percent of oxygen.
A number of options are available for co-firing sewage sludge, waste oil, plastic rich fractions,
etc.
5. Rotary Kiln Incinerators
5.1. Principles
The concept of rotary kiln incinerators was inspired by the much longer units used for
producing cement clinker or for calcining limestone. Rotary kilns can operate either in
counter-current (as in cement clinker production), or in co-current (as usual in industrial waste
incineration).
5.2. Applications
The rotary kiln is used as a drying furnace for e.g. sewage sludge, in the roasting of pyrites
and sulfide ores, the calcination of limestone and the production of cement clinker. In Great
Britain, Belgium and Germany pulverized refuse was used as a supplemental fuel in coal-fired
kilns. Later, rubber tires and hazardous waste in numerous plants became a standard
supplement in cement clinker manufacturing. (see Pollution Control through Efficient
Combustion Technology and Combustion Research and Computer Fluid Dynamics)

Dedicated rotary kiln incinerators are capable of eliminating almost any type of industrial
wastes, e.g. plastics, oil contaminated sludge, waste paint, solvents, pesticides, spent
chemicals and even explosives (if charged in small amounts). Explosive combustion is
relatively harmless, the combustion chamber being spacious and followed by a post
combustion chamber.
The rotary kiln is not highly regarded as an incinerator of municipal refuse because of
excessive wear of the lining and the absence of longitudinal air distribution.
5.3. Construction
A rotary kiln incinerator is composed of a stationary feeding system, a slightly inclined
cylindrical shell, a stationary ash discharge system and a post combustion chamber, followed
by a waste heat boiler and air pollution control units.
The stationary feeding system consists of a feed hopper, a lock, and a steeply inclined chute.
The whole fixed front panel can be mounted on rails. In a patented system a knife rides on the
sides of the feed hopper, cutting off ribbons, plastic film, and textiles, preventing a flashback
of the flame into lock and hopper. The lock is formed by two mechanically, hydraulically or
pneumatically operated slides, which are interlocked so that a slide only opens when the other
is closed. The lower slide and the chute are both water-cooled. The feeding system can be
provided with an explosion relief system, diverting a shock wave into an innocuous direction.
Several systems were tested for homogenizing feed materials, and supplying them at a
constant rate. Some rotary kilns were fed by a screw conveyor or hydraulically operated ram
feeders. Early plants used simple, strong centrifugal pumps with large clearance between rotor
and housing, capable of macerating material and pumping the resulting slurry. The rotary kiln
was fed from a rotating mixing and storage drum, blanketed with nitrogen.
The cylindrical shell is internally lined with refractory, selected with regard to the expected
operating temperature and slag melting point and reactivity. No general rules can be
formulated regarding the best or more economic furnace lining. In some plants inexpensive
ramming compound or hard chamotte bricks were successfully used. In others, chemical
attack was so extensive that lifetimes remained too short, even with expensive high-alumina
or magnesia bricks. Protecting the walls with a layer of solidified molten slag and outward
cooling by water sprays have been proposed for lengthening lifetimes. Slag accretions can be
melted away periodically by slightly elevating the temperature. Slag reactivity and melting
point has sometimes been decreased successfully by addition of suitable charges, e.g. sand.
Iron oxide, when burning barrels, forms low melting silicates enhancing slag fluidity. When
using high quality, dense brick a continuous operation is necessary to avoid thermal stresses.
Gradual heating up may take up to 60 hours, and cooling down - 24 hours. A lifetime of two
years is considered to be good in normal operation.
The peripheral speed of the kiln is generally low and can be varied continuously. A single
drive is used, with a driving pinion and a bull gear. The shell is provided with riding rings,
rolling on support rollers to obtain a uniform distribution of bearing forces over the shell. In
case of power failure an auxiliary motor should driven the shell to prevent thermal
deformation. Air sealing between rotary shell and stationary loading and discharging
equipment at the ends is critical. Excessive air leaking should be prevented by provision of
suitable angle or segment seal rings.

In few cases wastes have been incinerated in a metal-walled rotary kiln having no refractory
lining at all. Westinghouse proposed a unique combination of a rotary combustor with an
integrated boiler.
5.4. Operation
Solid and paste-like wastes, sometimes even complete barrels filled with waste are introduced
into a hopper, with a lock system and a chute, located at the upper, stationary end of a slowly
rotating, slightly inclined cylindrical furnace. The wastes slowly slide and tumble by the
rotary movement of the kiln; this provides for mixing and a periodic surface renewal of the
burning charge. On their way from the higher feeding side to the lower discharge end, the
wastes are rapidly dried, heated and ignited, under the action of radiant heat from the furnace
walls. The kiln is generally filled up to 10-20 percent of its volume. The residence time of
solid and paste-like waste depends on the length of the kiln, its speed of rotation, the possible
presence of a profile in the refractory lining and gas velocity. Generally residence times of
less than one hour are selected. The ash is discharged into a water bath, located under the
lower end of the kiln. In some plants larger pieces of residue are retained on grizzly screen
bars, to protect the ash-discharging conveyor.
In the more usual co-current operation both wastes and combustion air are introduced at the
upper end of the furnace. An auxiliary burner is installed in the fixed front panel of the kiln to
enhance the drying, preheating and ignition of the wastes. In the absence of such a burner
drying and preheating completely depends on radiant heat transfer, the rate of which is
proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature, attained in the hottest part of the
kiln. Operation is at 1200 to 1500 C in a slagging operating mode, or below 1000 C in the
dry extraction mode.
The rotary kiln is sometimes operated in counter-current when relatively wet wastes with a
low heating value are to be incinerated (e.g. sewage sludge). With more usual wastes countercurrent operation would lead to the risk of having combustion started inside the charging lock.
A partial counter-current operation is sometimes used in very short kilns. A good mixing
pattern is obtained by using an auxiliary burner in the fixed rear panel. The burner creates a
backward gas flow along the kiln axis.
The residence time and flow pattern can be modified by installing conveying spirals to guide
the materiel flow, ring-dams to retain melted or granular material, or by providing an enlarged
cross section near the discharge end to reduce the gas velocity and provide a soaking period at
high temperature. A spiraling dentition can be provided in the refractory to retard the forward
movement of wastes and enhance the contact between burning wastes and combustion air.
The higher cost of the lining limits the practical use of these various patented devices, prone
to erosion and clogging.
Primary air is blown in through a set of nozzles, located on the fixed, front side of the
furnace. No secondary air can be distributed along the kiln, unless it is composed of several
sections of a different diameter in a telescopic arrangement. The excess of air is large, to make
up for sudden variations in calorific value. Typically 8.000-12.000 m3 of flue gas is generated
per ton of waste.
Combustion air is blown in tangentially at the front end and creates a whirling movement
along the wall. Superposition of the two different flow patterns results in a reasonable amount
of gas phase mixing, a more uniform temperature and increased kiln capacity.

Residence time and turbulence in the gas phase are both limited. Hence, combustion is to be
completed in post combustion chambers providing a supplemental residence time of 2 to 3
seconds. The temperature in these chambers is often maintained above 800 C with auxiliary
burners firing fuel or liquid waste.
The volumetric rate of heat generation, depending on the combustion temperature, varies
between 0.12-0.3 MW m-3. Thermal efficiency is limited to 55-60 percent due to the large
excess of air and the various heat losses.
Rotary kilns are built with diameters from 1 to 4.5 m and a length typically from 3 to 15 m.
The largest kilns are with a capacity of 60 GJ h -1. They have a scaling-up problem, because
kiln volume is proportional to the square of the diameter, the available exposed surface - to
the diameter only. Hence, using multiple kilns is preferred over a single, large diameter one.
The following problem areas have been identified:

the charging chute is exposed to heavy wear because of the sliding and
tumbling of feed material and of condensation of corrosive vapors.
Sometimes cracks occur along the welding,
the kiln lining is exposed to heavy wear and chemical attack. The action of
corrosive melted slag is important mainly at the kiln end,
the air sealing is exposed to dirt, wear end high temperatures. They are
generally air-cooled,
the lower part of the combustion chamber is exposed to attack by
entrained droplets of melted ash.
5.5. Summary
Rotary kiln incinerators are capable of taking any kind of waste, i.e. bulk or packed, liquid, or
even gases. Operation is generally in co-current, with solid or liquid ash discharge. Tumbling
the waste renews the furnace. Since there are no provisions for mixing gas phase strands, a
post-combustion chamber is required.
6. The Combustion Cone
The combustion cone consists of a cup, rotating around an inclined axis of rotation and
formed by freely expanding, cast iron grate bars. The bottom of the cup is normally closed by
means of a mobile shield. The combustion cone has the unique property of longer retention of
larger pieces of solid waste than smaller ones. The rotation of the grate cup thus has a
classifying effect on the waste, the larger parts concentrating on the bottom, the lighter ones
moving up. Ash and small particles are sieved off through the grate bars, and Combustion air
is blown in at high velocity through the grate bars, enhancing combustion. Heat generation
rates of 12-16 MW m-3 were attained.
The Combustion Cone offers an unusual and elegant operating principle and has been
proposed for incinerating waste from small communities. Very few units of this type have
ever been built.

7. Shaft Furnaces
7.1. Principles
Vertical Shaft Furnaces may operate in co-current or crosscurrent, but usually counter-current
is used. The charge is always fed on top, and slowly descends to the hearth by gravity. The air
rises from the hearth at the bottom of the unit, activating the fire, the resulting gas preheating
and drying the charge as it rises in counter-current.
7.2. Applications
Since Roman times shaft furnaces have been used extensively for calcining lumps of
limestone, producing pig iron, as cupola iron foundry furnaces, and as gasifiers, converting
coal or wood into gas. During the Second World War hundreds of thousands of cars were
powered by small wood-based gas generator units. In the 1970s, the process was re-invented
with biomass and waste as proposed fuels. The Motala process used a two-step gasifier with a
circular grate to gasify mixtures of municipal refuse, industrial rubber scrap and coal. The
Andco-Torrax and the Union Carbide refuse gasifiers operated under slagging conditions; the
first process was applied at four sites, but only one survived for a number of years. Nippon
Steel has operated a vertical shaft furnace for treating the plastics/metal fraction, which is
considered unfit for regular incineration. The Foster Wheeler/Warren Springs Laboratory unit
converted shredded tires to gas, oil, carbon black, and residue in a cross-flow pyrolytic plant.
Dedicated shaft furnaces were almost never used in waste incineration. Some units were
proposed in the 1920s, to incinerate low calorific municipal refuse. Incineration remains
possible with limited auxiliary fuel because of the counter-current heat exchange between
rising flue gas and descending refuse. The rising gases are charged with thermal
decomposition products and hence need post-combustion.
7.3. Construction and Operation
The shaft furnace consists of a vertical, cylindrical shell having an interior refractory lining.
Major operating problems with shaft furnaces are:

Controlling temperature, gas flow and oxygen distribution throughout the

charge.
Controlling ash extraction, whether as cinders or molten slag.
In counter-current operation volatiles and moisture from the charge report
to the gas either requiring post combustion, or adequate treatment.
Unless special care is taken to homogenize feed size and shape, the rising
gas is channeling in the charge, due to chimney effects and irregular bed
porosity.
Peripheral fire occurs, due to the loose arrangement of the charge close to
the walls.

7.4. Summary
Shaft furnaces have mainly been used in gasifiers. Unless the feed is carefully calibrated the
gas rises along preferential channels, reducing the quality of contact and volumetric capacity.

8. Multiple Hearth Furnaces

8.1. Principles
Multiple Hearth Furnaces (MHF) consist of a series of superimposed hearths, solids being fed
on top and descending stepwise by gravity, after describing a spiraling movement on each
hearth. As a rule, gases mount, in counter-current to the general movement of solids. The feed
material is charged onto the upper hearth, and slowly makes its way down, falling from one
hearth to the next, while it is progressively dried, heated, ignited, combusted and finally
cooled by the combustion air. The latter is introduced in part or all at the bottom of the
furnace, preheated by the ash on the lower hearth(s), and partly consumed on successive
combustion hearths. The resulting flue gas is cooled by the incoming feed and leaves the unit
towards possible post combustion and cleaning. Auxiliary burners are used for preheating and
controlling the temperature profile. The atmosphere is controlled by balanced introduction of
air, recirculation, or other means.
8.2. Applications
The main application at present is incineration of sewage sludge, and regeneration of spent
carbon or lime. The heat required for drying sludge can be supplied by feeding pulverized
refuse on lower hearths as an auxiliary fuel.
8.3. Construction and Operation
The MHF is a cylindrical construction, composed of a number of circular hearths mounted
one above the other. Each hearth contains an air-cooled rabble arm, driven from a common
central shaft. Blades, fitted to the slowly rotating rabble arm move the material forward and
depending on the angle at which they suspend from the arms - either towards the
center or towards the periphery, until it passes over a discharge aperture and falls onto the
lower hearth.
The retention time of the charge is varied by changing the speed of rotation of the rabble
arms or, rarely, by adapting their relative position to the floor.
Auxiliary burners are used when starting-up the furnace or when the calorific value of the
waste is low. MHFs must be operated continuously since thermal shocks are destructive to
their refractory. The furnace is heated up gradually, to avoid spalling of refractory brick.
Temperature cycling is a major cause of damage to the refractory. The position and
temperature of the fire and the combustion zone are difficult to control in case the quality of
waste is rather variable. In that case, the combustion zone periodically moves from one hearth
to another, entraining sudden variations of temperature in the concerned hearths.
Local overheating of wastes by auxiliary burners should be avoided, since this leads to slag
building up at the burner ports. Incomplete combustion occurs when the excess of air drops
below 30 percent. The flue gas plume then turns gray or black. Sludge feeding should be
halted at least one hour before shutdown and the gas outlet temperature should be 550 C or
higher, to avoid the spreading of sludge odors.
Alarm signals can be provided in case of furnace temperatures exceeding set point, draft loss,
burner shutdown, and feed system or ash disposal system shutdown. Automatic shutdown can
be provided in case of power or fuel failure, when it is necessary to cool the shaft and rabble
arms by a self-powered source of cooling air.

8.4. Summary
MHFs originally developed for roasting sulfide ores were later adapted for sewage sludge
incineration, an application in which they mainly compete with fluidized beds. Their principal
merit is that they provide a controllable temperature history to the feed, generally involving a
sequence of drying, heating, reacting and cooling.
9. Rotary Hearth Furnaces
Rotary hearth furnaces have been used extensively in small-scale gasifiers. The rotary hearth
features an ash-extractor, formed like a snail-shell.
Lucas Furnace Developments, Ltd. once designed a rotary, single hearth furnace, featuring a
peripheral feed to a single hearth sloping to a central ash discharge point. After preheating the
furnace the waste was fed at regular intervals by means of a ram feeder. As the solid hearth
slowly rotates the waste first moves along the outer periphery and gradually spirals to a
central discharge point. Finally, the ash falls into a quench tank and is removed by a scraper
conveyor.
The gas flow is organized for cyclonic combustion. High velocity nozzles direct the
combustion air- flow tangentially into the furnace, cooling the walls to 850-900 C. The
central temperature attains 1450 C. The plant operates at 80-100 percent excess of air.
Operation at reduced capacity suffers from loss of turbulence in the gas phase, a problem that
can be tackled using auxiliary steam jets.
The Lucas furnace was designed at first for burning sewage sludge. Later it was mainly used
for the disposal of old tires (without prior size reduction) and plastics.
10. Vortex Combustors
A vortex arises when combustion air and fuel are blown in tangentially into a conical or
cylindrical furnace. The violent vortex movement of combustibles, suspended in combustion
air, creates excellent mixing and hence high combustion intensities and temperature
homogeneity. Gaseous, liquid or finely shredded solid wastes are fed generally at an angle
with the air. Two vortices are present: the outer one consisting of combustion air and waste
and the inner one of burning gases. The cooler outer gases protect the refractory walls from
overheating and are rapidly preheated by the hot inner core, stabilizing combustion
considerably. A wide range of temperatures and a low excess of air can be used.
Vortex combustion and tangential firing have been extensively used in coal-fired utility
boilers. In one design pulverized coal is fired in a cylindrical, almost horizontal vessel. The
heat rates in such a cyclonic furnace allow liquid tapping of slag. In a second design
pulverized coal, together with combustion air, is injected from the four corners of a vertical
chamber with a square cross-section. Jets are directed tangentially to an imaginary circle
contained in this section.
Vortex incinerators are used for high-rate combustion of gaseous, liquid and finely divided
solid fuels or wastes. Large particles may not burn out completely; in that case supplemental
mechanical means have to be provided for retaining the burning residue.
"Wet bottom" cyclonic furnaces for firing coal with an unusually low ash melting point have
also been developed.

11. Fluidized Bed Incinerators

11.1. Principles
When an upward current of fluid traverses a layer of sand, supported on a porous plate, a
pressure drop is incurred (see Adsorbents and Adsorption Processes for Pollution Control),
which rises as the flow increases. Meanwhile the bed volume expands. At a given moment the
pressure drop equals the pressure, exerted by bed weight. Then, the minimum velocity of
fluidization umf is reached and the head loss p corresponds to the weight of the entire bed per
unit of cross-section:

(1)
with p = pressure drop, m2
umf = minimum fluidization velocity, m s-1
= apparent density of the bed, g m-3
A = bed cross-section, m2
H = bed height, m;
g = acceleration of gravity, m s-2
The apparent density of the bed, , is proportional with the physical density of the bed
particles P, but varies with the void fraction as: = P (1
). This void fraction
increases with the actual velocity of fluidization u.
The bubbling bed resembles a boiling liquid, bubbles rising from the bottom and bursting
at the surface. This upward movement of air bubbles leads to excellent mixing of the solid
phase and temperature homogeneity. Light materials tend to float, dense materials sink in the
bed. Fluidized beds are useful both as a separator of ores or metals, at low gas velocities, and
as a mixer, at velocities of a multiple of umf.
The value of umf can be estimated using empirical correlations. The gas flows both as bubbles
and in the 'dense phase'. Smooth fluidization is only obtained at a gas velocity of 3-4 times
umf, together with adequate particle mixing and heat transfer.
With rising gas velocities entrainment of fine particles becomes more important, depending
on their terminal falling velocity. The entrainment velocity of the particles gives the upper
limit of the gas velocity. Depending on the particle size gas velocities typically range between
0.3 and 5 m s-1.
There is a gradual transition from the bubbling bed to the circulating fluid bed, characterized
by a cycle of entrainment, particle separation, and recirculation (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Evolution from a Fixed Bed, over a Bubbling Bed and a Circulating Fluid Bed to an
Entrained Flow Combustor, with rising gas flow.
11.2. Applications
Fluidized bed technology was first applied in the 1920s, in coal gasification. Fluid Catalytic
Cracking of gas-oil to gasoline was developed during the Second World War. Other important
industrial applications are the roasting of sulfide ores and the drying of polymer powders.
The most important applications for waste disposal are the incineration of municipal and
industrial wastewater sludge and black liquors from pulping. Black liquors, concentrated to a
dry solids content of 35 percent, can be incinerated in fluidized bed incinerators.
Fluidized Bed Incinerators burn waste, suspended and moved around erratically in a
vigorously bubbling bed of hot granular material. High heat generation rates can be obtained
despite rather low combustion temperatures.
11.3. Construction and Operation
A fluidized bed incinerator consists of a plenum chamber, a distributor supporting the bed, a
freeboard zone ensuring post-combustion, and adapted feeding, auxiliary heating, and
pollution abatement equipment.
The air is often preheated by a burner. The distributor supports the bed material and evenly
distributes the primary combustion air over the entire cross section. Even distribution requires
a pressure drop over the distributor to be at least 0.1-0.2 times the pressure drop over the bed.
The distributor should prevent weeping of bed material into the plenum chamber.
The bed material consists of a graded fraction of heat resistant material, such as sand,
alumina, limestone, dolomite or ash. Pollutants, such as SO2 and HCl can be removed in situ,
when limestone or dolomite is fed into the bed.

The bed is preheated to operating temperature by generating hot air in a separate furnace or
using a start-up burner directed towards the surface of the bed. The distributor is made of
heat-resistant alloy or forms an arch of refractory material.
Combustible waste and auxiliary fuel are fed into the bed, to ensure that the heat of
combustion is generated in, rather than above the bed, in the freeboard zone. Gas is fed
through independent bubble caps, liquid fuel, slurries and pumpable sludge, through lances,
solids by means of a screw feeder.
Low calorific wastes are dropped onto the top of the bed by a conveyor belt, or sprayed over
the bed by means of suitable nozzles. Mechanical spreaders may assist in obtaining a more
uniform distribution of the feed. The falling droplets or particles are dried while dropping
onto the bed.
Coarse particles entrained from the bed disengage and settle in the freeboard zone. Finer
particles are separated in internal or subsequent cyclones and flow back into the bed.
Secondary air is injected into the freeboard zone to complete the combustion.
11.4. Advantages and Disadvantages
Fluidized bed-incinerators are simple to build, operate, automate and maintain. They have no
moving parts at high temperatures. Yet, high heat generation and bed-to-wall heat transfer
rates are obtained, due to the good gas-solids contact. Complete combustion is possible even
at a low temperature (750
850 C) and a low excess of air (15 - 35 percent); hence
the volume of flue gas to be cleaned and the NOx generation rate are small.
Thanks to the large thermal capacity it is possible to absorb important changes in feeding
rate and to operate intermittently: after shutting down cooling of the bed is very slow; bed
material can easily be added or removed, which allows adding also lime or dolomite.
On the other hand, both the power requirements and the dust content of the flue gas are high.
Dense material that may segregate and accumulate on the distributor plate, can be avoided by
using a distributor of spaced perforated tubes. A waste heat boiler and/or preheated air are
required to reduce the stack losses.
The most serious operating problem, occurs when the combustion temperature increases
beyond the softening point of the ash. Rapid particle agglomeration then occurs, followed by
solidification of the bed material. When this happens, the solidified material has to be
excavated by pneumatic hammers after cooling of the bed.
11.5. Summary
Fluidized bed combustors are eminently versatile, allowing simultaneous combustion of solid,
slurried, pasty, melting, liquid, and gaseous waste, at low temperature and excess of air.
Moreover, they achieve excellent in-bed mixing of solids and heat transfer and leave a cleanly
polished dense solid residue, sinking in the bed. Fine ash is entrained. In-bed desulfurization
with limestone or dolomite is possible and thermal NOx-formation negligible.
The principal limitation is bed agglomeration, in the presence of tacky ash or salts.

12. Slagging Operation

12.1. Principles
Combustion may be conducted in a liquid bath of slag, salts, or metals. The liquid phase
retains fuel and heat and under circumstances acts as an oxygen and heat transfer agent, and
possibly as a catalyst or a neutralizing agent.
Incinerators may operate at temperatures exceeding the melting point of the ash if:

waste has sufficient heating value,

slag has adequate fluidity, and
provisions for tapping molten slag are available.

Preheating combustion air, enriching it with oxygen, providing auxiliary fuel are means for
raising combustion temperature and addition of fluxing agents (fluorspar, iron oxides, lime)
enhance slag fluidity. Molten slag can be solidified to large crystalline blocks. Generally, it is
poured into a water bath, forming small glassy grains.
Slagging incineration has several potential advantages, such as

simplicity of furnaces,
a dense glassy slag, with low leaching rates and almost free from
combustible inclusions.
operating at low excess of air, reducing flue gas to be cleaned and stack
losses.
The major problem is ensuring a steady fluidity of slag, while limiting its attack on refractory.
A thin layer of solidified slag may be maintained on the refractory lining to protect the
refractory.
12.2. Applications
Already in 1934 Rummel pioneered the concept of using molten material as heat carrier and
oxygen transfer agent. This principle has been applied a number of times in the field of waste
disposal especially when dealing with hazardous wastes, such as pesticides, explosives, etc.
For decades, incinerators with slagging operation have been experimental in nature and
associated with adapted technology, such as plasma torches, electric arc furnaces, or with
waste streams, warranting higher-than-usual disposal cost, e.g. radioactive waste, or PCBs.
At the end of the 1990s, slagging gasifier operation has been introduced in Japan as a standard
in refuse disposal, but the periodic replacement of refractory and the use of auxiliary fuel have
inflated disposal costs. Ebara Co. has pioneered a fluidized bed gasification plant, featuring
postcombustion under slagging conditions of the combustion residues.
12.3. Construction and Operation
It is recommended to separate combustion from ash melting, by providing a supply of heat
and possibly flux in the slag tapping area. Slagging operation exists in many variants. Heat
supply is secured by the following means, alone or in combination:

Plasma torch.

Addition of coke.
Auxiliary burners.
Combustion of gasification products (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Fluid Bed Gasifier, with Slagging Post-combustor.

12.4. Combustion in a Bath of Molten Salts
Waste is introduced below the surface of a bath of molten salt (e.g. sodium carbonate,
potassium carbonate,) along with combustion air and oxidized by air or by chemically bound
oxygen. The following advantages are claimed for such systems:

The molten salt acts as combustion catalyst and heat carrier, ensuring a
complete oxidation at temperatures lower than normally required.
Dust particles are entrapped in the bath.
Acidic pollutants in the off gas react with the salt and are retained in the
bath.
A potential disadvantage is the disposal or regeneration of spent salt. Moreover, managing
volatilizing salts is problematic.

12.5. Summary
Incineration under slagging conditions has been explored repeatedly and since the end of the
1990s is adopted as a standard practice (mainly in Japan). Auxiliary fuel requirements and
periodic replacement of refractory inflate the operating cost. The vitrified granulated residue
can be used as an aggregate in concrete or land filled.
13. Conclusions and Outlook
A survey is given of the various furnaces as used in incineration and their domain of
application and operating conditions are outlined, along with a number of typical applications.
Selection of a given type of furnace depends mainly on feed characteristics, desired operating
combustion, ash consistency under these conditions, legal constraints and personal
preferences. Fluid bed units show promising perspectives in biomass co-firing and accept a
wide range of waste. The introduction of melting gasifiers, mainly in Japan, is quite
remarkable, for such technology is quite demanding technically. Mechanical grate and rotary
kiln units are quite robust and expected to maintain a prominent position in firing household,
respectively industrial waste. Much depends on the acceptance of co-firing, in power plant,
cement kilns, and industrial boilers.
Acknowledgement
This chapter could never have been realized without the collaboration of Mrs. K. Schroyens,
who deserves lots of praise for critically reading and shaping all contributions.
Related Chapters
Click Here To View The Related Chapters
Glossary
Bottom-ash
Fluidized Bed
Combustors
Gasification
Integrated boiler
Mechanical Grate
Incinerators
Multiple Hearth
Furnace
Partial Oxidation
Primary air
Pyrolysis
Residence time
Rotary Kiln
Incinerators
Shaft Furnace

:solid combustion residue, slag (USA), clinker (U.K.).

:units featuring fluidized sand as a heat transfer medium and a thermal
flywheel.
:high-temperature sub-stoichiometric combustion process converting
solid or liquid fuels into flammable gas.
:boiler designed to cool both the combustion chamber and the flue
gases leaving it, to a temperature compatible with the air pollution
control equipment.
:furnaces for firing solid fuels, supported on a grate, designed for
moving and poking the burning material.
:vertical furnace, formed by superposed hearths fitted with rabble arms
for moving the feed.
:see Gasification.
:combustion air, activating combustion and supplied through the grate
as a coolant.
:thermal decomposition of organic matter in waste or fuels.
:dwelling time computed or measured for either gas or solids.
:slightly inclined cylindrical furnaces, in which the feed progresses by
gravity while being tumbled by rotary kiln motion.
:cylindrical furnace often operating in counter-current, into which the
feed descends by gravity to the hearth.

Secondary air
:combustion air supplied for completing gas phase combustion.
Slagging (wet:incineration under conditions so that residues are drained as a melt.
bottom) operation
Stationary Furnace :furnace consisting of a box or horizontal or vertical cylinder with one
or more burners.
Submerged
:vertical combustion chamber, fired downward, with the combustion
Combustion
gases quenched while traversing a liquor.
Thermolysis
:see Pyrolysis.
Volumetric heat
:combustion characteristic, indicating the typical release of heat per unit
release rate
time and furnace volume.
Vortex Combustor :high-rate combustor featuring a cyclonic flow of air and combustion
gas, suspending the fuel particles or droplets.
Waste heat boiler :boiler recovering sensible heat from flue gas after they left the
combustion chamber.
Bibliography
[1]

Brunner C. R. (1996). Handbook of Incineration Systems. New York:Van Nostrand

Reinhold; Rev. ed. [Handbook examining the basic scientific principles, guidelines for
designing incineration facilities]

[2]

Grner K. (1991). Technische Verbrennungssysteme, Grundlagen, Modellbildung,

Simulation. Berlin
Heidelberg - New York: Springer-Verlag. [An outstanding
review of all most relevant aspects of combustion systems in a concise, yet
comprehensive and well-documented manner (only available in German).]
[3]

Gnther R. (1974). Verbrennung und Feuerungen. Berlin

Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. [A systematic overview of fundamental aspects in gas, oil,
and solid fuel firing (only available in German).]

[4]

http://www.wiley-vch.de/vch/software/ullmann/. Ullmann's Encyclopedia

Industrial Chemistry. 7th ed. [Comprehensive Treatment of Industrial Chemistry].

of

[5]

Kirk R. and Othmer D. (1994) Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

Chichester, U.K.: Wiley [A comprehensive treatment of chemical technology]

[6]

Kunii D. and O. Levenspiel (1969). Fluidization Engineering. Melbourne, Fla.: Robert

E. Krieger Publishing Co., [An eminently readable book explaining the physics and
modelling of fluidized bed reactors in simple words, yet sufficient detail]

[7]

Niessen W. R. (2002). Combustion and Incineration Processes. 3rd ed., New York:
Marcel Dekker. [Basic reference covers the technology of waste incineration systems
from a process viewpoint, with attention to the chemical and physical processes.]

Biographical Sketch
Alfons Buekens was born in Aalst, Belgium; he obtained his M.Sc. (1964) and his Ph.D (1967) at Ghent
University (RUG) and received the K.V.I.V.-Award (1965), the Robert De Keyser Award (Belgian Shell Co.,
1968), the Krber Foundation Award (1988) and the Coca Cola Foundation Award (1989). Dr. Buekens was full
professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), since 2002 emeritus. He lectured in Ankara, Cochabamba,
Delft, Essen, Sofia, Surabaya, and was in 2002 and 2003 Invited Professor at the Tohoku University of Sendai.
Since 1976 he acted as an Environmental Consultant for the European Union, for UNIDO and WHO and as an
Advisor to Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, T.N.O. and VITO. For 25 years, he advised the major industrial
Belgian Bank and conducted more than 600 audits of enterprise.
Main activities are in thermal and catalytic processes, waste management, and flue gas cleaning, with emphasis
on heavy metals, dioxins, and other semi-volatiles. He coordinated diverse national and international research

projects (Acronyms Cycleplast, Upcycle, and Minidip). Dr. Buekens is author of one book, edited several books
and a Technical Encyclopedia and authored more than 90 scientific publications in refereed journals and more
than 150 presentations at international congresses. He is a member of Editorial Boards for different journals and
book series.
He played a role in the foundation of the Flemish Waste Management Authority O.V.A.M., of a hazardous waste
enterprise INDAVER, and the Environmental Protection Agency B.I.M./I.B.G.E. He was principal ministerial
advisor in Brussels for matters regarding Environment, Housing, and Classified Enterprise (1989). Since 1970 he
has been a Member of the Board of the Belgian Consumer Association and of Conseur, grouping more than a
million members in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
He is licensed expert for conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (Air, Water, Soil) and Safety Studies
regarding large accidents (Seveso Directive).

To cite this chapter

A. Buekens, (2005), WASTE INCINERATION TECHNOLOGY, in Pollution Control Technologies, [Eds.
Bhaskar Nath, and Georgi St. Cholakov], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the
Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford ,UK, [http://www.eolss.net] [Retrieved July 5, 2007]