Residue Characterization According to Furnace Design

Incineration has been employed since about 1874 [6] as a method of solid waste treatment and disposal. The first incinerators were constructed in England to burn "mixed refuse" and the combustion process was initially called either "destruction" or "cremation". A prime consideration in the early development of refuse incinerators was that the heat released could be recovered for steam production, and also that the public health nuisance and hazard conditions could be eliminated or substantially reduced if the furnace were operated at sufficiently high temperatures. Refuse incineration in the United States did not follow the early leadership of England and continental Europe, but rather, the United States developed its own goals and proceeded to experiment with its own processes. While in Europe, the original intent of re­ fuse incineration w�s to render innocuous the potentially hazardous or odorous material, very little attention was given as to how efficient the process actually was. This paper will report some of the find­ ings on the characterization of residue as well as at­ tempt to interpret this character relative to process efficiency. Hopefully, some day this character can be related to overall environmental effect, and limitations on the use and handling of residue can be speci­ fically outlined. It was apparent in early attempts at refuse in­ cineration that there were virtues of the process which could be of benefit to the general population. It soon became apparent also that the volume reduction of solid by-pr.oduct resulting from combus­ tion was a very important consideration. When the economics of refuse incineration are discussed today, volume reduction remains one of the primary justifi­ cations' . However, the economic factors of land avail­ ability, etc., which necessitated the construction of incinerators, now are dictating that the characteristics of residue must also meet a certain quality or else special handling and approved disposal of the residue must be practiced. These few factors represent, of course, only a portion of the problem confronting the solid waste environmental engineer. Increased quantities of solid waste, both on a per capita and total population basis, and decreased land avail­ ability in ihe more densely populated areas all assist in complicating any decision-making as to method of waste disposal. While the methods for properly handling solid waste in sanitary landfill operations were recognized and defined almost 30 years ago, [12] it has been