| OCR Text |
Show BURNER/ATOMIZER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMBUSTION OF WASTE FUELS Joseph J. Santoleri Four Nines, Inc. Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, USA ABSTRACT Increased energy costs created by the 1973 1974 oil crisis forced many plant owners to look at many energy conservation methods. Included in these were the use of plant waste products (liquids, sludges, and solids) with reasonable heating va l ue. However, this presented many problems in materials handling, especially with the highly viscous liquids and sludges. It also presented prob l ems with the atomizers, the burners, refractory materials, as well as heat recovery equipment. As a result, some plant operators continued to have this material hauled away rather than utilize its energy value. Technology has been developed in the incinerator industry to adequately handle these materials, burn them, and reach the 99.99% destruction of the toxic, hazardous components. The technology de vel oped for these burners and atomizers is available to combust the more difficult to handle tars (viscosities to 1000 cp) and waste fuels . The energy available from these materials can be utilized in the plant operations. This paper will discuss the design features required in a high intensity burner capable of burning gaseous wastes with heating values as low as 90 Btu/cu. ft. as wel l as liquid wastes with heati ng va l ues to 4500 Btu / lb. Problem areas that should be reviewed carefully in the design stage of a system will also be discussed. INCINERATION TECHNOLOGY Wastes are being generated in industry today as a result of the technological progress that has occurred over the past thirty years. Synthetic materials are replacing many items in all areas of domestic, commercial and industrial applications. We see less use of ferrous and nonferrous materials in automobiles, homes, and 335 offices. Glass has been replaced by synthetics and plasticized containers. Copper tubing for water systems is universally a PVC material (polyvinyl chloride). These new materials require less energy to produce, are lighter weight, are non-corrosive, more easily maintained and produce a better appearance. These technological advances have created a myriad of waste disposal problems in the form of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes. Most of these materials are considered hazardous due to their characteristics and are now regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).(1) These regulations stipulate that incineration systems must be designed to insure 99.99% Destruction and Removal Efficiency (ORE) of the Principal Organic Hazardous Constituents (POHC). As a result, industry has attempted to develop the technology in the last 10 to 15 years to properly handle these wastes and reach these levels of ORE. Since the topic for this conference is related to Industrial Combustion Technology, will concentrate on those areas of waste burning most closely associated with combustion of liquid fuels in industry. As we all know, the properly designed combustor is based on the three Tis of combustion - Temperature, Time and Turbulence. A high level in two of these areas provides a reduction in the third. I have found in the design of incineration systems much of the cost is tied up in the size of the chamber and the materials of construction. Therefore, a system that can provide the least time is also one with the least volume. However, this does require a system with maximum temperature and turbulence. High temperature design requires a high quality refractory with increased insulation. High turbulence is related to high intensity combustors with higher forced draft fan pressures. Experience has shown that high intensity combustors can reach levels of |
