THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH NITROGEN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPONENTS AND NOx

There is a widely held belief that fuel bound nitrogen is the principal source of incinerator NOx emissions. This belief leads to the theory that removing high nitrogen com­ ponents like food and yard and garden waste will reduce NOx emissions even though incinerators typically release 75 to 90 percent of the fuel bound nitrogen as diatomic nitrogen gas rather than NOx• This paper explores the va­ lidity of the belief using simultaneously collected waste composition and incinerator emissions data, a re-analyses of published incinerator NOx emissions data, and new un­ controlled NOx emissions data presentations to confirm that incinerators are staged-combustion devices and NOx emissions are not related to fuel bound nitrogen levels over the widely observed range. Consequently, while sep­ arating compostable materials may be desirable, justifying it on the basis of NOx minimization is incorrect.