Halogenated Aromatics From Waste Incineration Indicator Parameters

Organic micro-pollutants and especially chlorinated organics have given rise to concern in the last few years. Combustion of waste and other fuels containing chlorine are well-known sources of emission. Recently brominated aromatics have also attracted attention. Sampling and analysis of micro-pollutants in flue gases increase in complexity and cost as the detection limit is lowered; in particular this applies to ultratrace components like polychlorinated dioxins (PCnD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF). With suitable indicator parameters it may be feasible both to enhance the precision in the measurements as well as to reduce the costs. The correlation between chlorinated benzenes and PCDD/PCDFs, as reported by us and others (1, 2, 3), can form the basis for indirect measurements. Here we report data from combustion studies with different types of waste demonstrating the possibility not only to predict emission levels, but also the chlorination pattern from one group of chlorinated aromatics to another. We also report measurement data for brominated aromatics suggesting that indicator parameters may be the only feasible approach to control of halogenated aromatics in flue gases.