Incinerators in Disguise

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Incinerators in Disguise

• Incinerators are so unpopular with the public
  they use different names - resource recovery
  facilities, waste-to-energy etc etc
• The latest phase is to call them gasifiers,
  pyrolyzers or plasma arc facilities

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Comments on Gasification plants
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• Gasification plants claim NOT to be incinerators,
  but all involve two stages
• 1) the conversion of solid waste into a gas,
• 2) the burning of the gas, producing many of the
  same problems as a regular incinerator
• So the more appropriate name would be
• Gasifying incinerator

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Comparing mass burn incineration with gasifying
incineration

• Mass burn incineration
• Needs very little external energy to maintain
  burn
• Gases are cleaned after the burn
• Produces a toxic bottom ash
• Produces a very toxic fly ash
• Releases toxic nanoparticles

• Gasifying incineration
• Needs a lot of external energy to convert solid
  to gases
• The gases have to be cleaned before and after
  they are burned
• Produces a char
• Produces a very toxic fly ash
• Releases toxic nanoparticles

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Ogni 3-4 ton di rifiuti ottieni circa 1 ton di
ceneri
ELECTRICITY
TURBINE
WET SCRUBBER
SECONDARY CHAMBER
DE-NOX
STEAM
FABRIC FILTER
TEMP lt 200oC
CHUTE
BOILER
SEMI- DRY SCRUBBER
Ca(OH) 2
SUSPENSION
ACTIVATED CHARCOAL
GRATES
AMMONIA INJECTION
TRASH
FLY ASH
BOTTOM ASH
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Comparing mass burn incineration with gasifying
incineration

• Mass burn incinerators
• NOT SUSTAINABLE
• They destroy finite resources, which have to be
  replaced

• Gasifying incinerators
• NOT SUSTAINABLE
• They destroy finite resources, which have to be
  replaced

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Gasification incinerators - chemical constraints

• There is no magic available to destroy toxic
  ELEMENTS
• Toxic elements in toxic elements out!
• Where does the mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead,
  chromium, chlorine, bromine and fluorine end up?
  In the char? In the fly ash or into the air?
• Where is the data?
• Have they done a mass balance study on their
  pilot plants?
• High temperature gasification does not solve the
  NANOPARTICLES
• Scaling up from pilot plants to full-scale
  commercial facilities is notoriously difficult.
• The gases produced at high temperatures is very
  corrosive on plant (furnace linings, ductwork etc)

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Gasification incinerators physical problems

• Scaling up from pilot plants to full-scale
  commercial facilities is notoriously difficult.
• The gases produced at high temperatures is very
  corrosive on plant (furnace linings, ductwork
  etc)
• Many plants have failed

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The difference between PR hype and Reality

• The following slides are taken from
  www.GREENACTION.org
• They document the dismal track record of various
  gasification, pyrolysis and plasma arc/torch
  facilities

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INDUSTRIAL CLAIMS
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THERMOSELECT FACILITY IN KARLSRUHE
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BRIGHTSTARS WOOLONGONG FACILITY
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GASIFICATION, PYROLYSIS etc

• Engineering consultants view
• Many of the perceived benefits of gasification
  and pyrolysis over combustion technology proved
  to be unfounded. These perceptions have arisen
  mainly from inconsistent comparisons in the
  absence of quality information.
• Fichtner Consulting Engineers Ltd, Stockport,
  Cheshire, March, 2004

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Lurgi letter

• a decision has been taken within Lurgi to
  discontinue marketing gasification and pyrolysis
  technologies for waste conversion applications.
• This decision has come after rigorous analysis
  of market requirements, technical feasibility and
  economic sensitivities of gasification and
  pyrolysis of waste, as applied by Lurgi and our
  competitors.
• We recognize there is a positive bias towards
  gasification/pyrolysis amongst politicians and
  environmentalists. However, we are in no doubt
  that in the short to medium term neither
  technology will be developed and commercially
  proven to the point where it can compete.
• Letter (08-09-2003) to Fichter Consulting
  Engineers Ltd, Cheshire, UK

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The modern incinerator is attempting to perfect a
bad idea

• Our task in the 21st Century is not to find
  better ways to destroy discarded materials
• But to stop making packaging and products that
  have to be destroyed!

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Comments on plasma arc/torch plants
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PLASMA ARC TECHNOLOGY
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PLASCO

• Has built a 100 ton per day pilot plant in
  Ottawa, Canada
• Is aggressively marketing technology all over
  Canada, US and some other countries

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PLASCO
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Solid converted to gas

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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Gas
Solid converted to gas

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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Gas
Solid converted to gas
Solid

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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Gas
Solid converted to gas
Solid

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
Vitrified slag
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External energy

Gas
Solid converted to gas
Solid

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
Vitrified slag
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Gas
Solid converted to gas
Gas Cooling Cleaning
Internal Combustion engine

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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When combustion engines not working
F L A R E

Gas
Solid converted to gas
Gas Cooling Cleaning

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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?

Gas
Solid converted to gas
Gas Cooling Cleaning
Internal Combustion engine

At about 600 -700 deg. C
PLASCO
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GAS Cooling Cleaning
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Heat Recovery unit
Heat
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NaOH solution

Heat Recovery unit
Wet Scrubber
NaCl NaF NaBr NaCN ?
Heat
Salt water
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Activated Carbon
NaOH solution

Heat Recovery unit
Wet Scrubber
NaCl NaF NaBr NaCN ?
Carbon mercury dioxins etc
Heat
Salt water
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Activated Carbon
NaOH solution

Heat Recovery unit
Carbon Filter Plus bacteria
Wet Scrubber
NaCl NaF NaBr NaCN ?
Sulfur
Carbon mercury dioxins etc
Heat
Salt water
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Activated Carbon
NaOH solution

Heat Recovery unit
Carbon Filter Plus bacteria
Wet Scrubber
NaCl NaF NaBr NaCN ?
Sulfur
Carbon mercury dioxins etc
Heat
Salt water
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PLASCO CEO Rod Bryden says

• 1) Filter ash goes back into furnace.
• 2) System produces no dioxin because no oxygen
  available.
• 3) System destroys nanoparticles.
• 4) Slag to be used in asphalt concrete.
• 5) Salt to be used on roads.
• 6) Sulfur to be used in agriculture

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Recycling fly ash

• Modern incinerators use activated carbon filters
  to remove mercury
• This carbon is part of the fly ash, and this
  should then be a SINK for the mercury (and sent
  to special facilities for recovery or
  containment)
• However if you put the fly ash back into the
  furnace then you will release ALL the mercury
  again
• There is only place left for the mercury to go
  (and other volatile metals) and that is into the
  AIR.

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No dioxin because no air

• There is plenty of air in incoming waste!
• Dioxin emitted in other plasma arc facilities

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Yang Kim (2004). Characteristics of dioxins and
metals emission from radwaste plasma arc melter
system.  Chemosphere 57 421-428

• When PVC was fed into the high-temperature
  melter, a significant quantity of PCDD/Fs,
  cadmium and lead was emitted.
• Wet scrubbing with rapid quenching, as well as a
  low temperature two-step fine filtration, or both
  of them together cannot effectively control the
  volatile metal species and gas-phase PCDD/Fs.
• The removal of PVC from the feed waste stream
  must also be effective to reduce the emissions of
  the PCDD/Fs, cadmium and lead species.

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Using salt on roads

• Salt will not be pure salt (NaCl) - could be
  problems with other salts which are very toxic ,
  e.g. sodium fluoride

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Using sulfur

• Using sulfur in agriculture could be problem if
  it is contaminated with mercury etc.

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RICHLAND, WASHINGTON
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One of PEATs claims is very disturbing

• They also claim that they will have no fly ash
  because they are going to recycle it back into
  the process.

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