An Examination of Proposed Acceptance Testing Methods

This paper describes test procedures proposed to be used to determine the acceptance or operational per­ formance of solid waste incinerators with heat recov­ ery. The throughput capacity of the heat recovery incinerator, volume and mass reduction, environ­ mental emissions, and overall thermal efficiency are used as performance indicators. To develop the performance test, the manufacturers of heat recovery incinerators (HRI's) were contacted to obtain literature describing their products. The lit­ erature was reviewed to determine the characteristics that manufacturers use to describe their HRI's, and to learn general operating procedures and conditions. The Power Test Codes of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) were reviewed to see whether they could be used for testing HRI's. In ad­ dition, the proposals presented at the last three Na­ tional Waste Processing Conferences were also reviewed. Four efficiency test procedures-the input­ output, heat-loss, modified heat-loss, and calorimeter methods-were identified from this information, along with an alternate concept of separate combustion ef­ ficiency and thermal energy recovery testing. Rec­ ommendations are made as to what should be considered as the "standard" for acceptance testing, based upon a user's perspective.