Development and Testing Trials of an Experimental Sensor Instrument within the Layer of Waste on the Moving Grate in Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators

The incineration process on the moving grate can be divided into four different stages, drying, devolatilization, gasification/combustion and final char burn-out. These stages are influenced mainly by the primary air flow and are affected to a smaller extent by secondary air flow, temperature conditions within and above the grate, composition of waste (particularly humidity) and movements of grate elements which enable waste movement along the grate and mixing. The composition of flue gases depends on both the composition of the waste and on a wide range of process conditions; a detailed knowledge of the flue gas is essential in defining the design of the incineration process. The incinerator design can particularly differ in the grate type, the geometrical configuration of a combustion chamber and the process control system. While all existing commercial waste incinerators have been designed on the basis of empirical models developed from a wide range of available information, there is a large potential to improve plant design and operation. One of the key areas is detailed in-situ measurements of combustion conditions in the region of the grate where the first flue gases are produced. Until recently, flue gas monitoring in this zone has received little attention due in large part to technical difficulties. In order to achieve applicable data and information on flue gas composition directly from the combustion chamber close to the grate a novel measuring instrument is used. The specially designed sensor instrument is a thermally protected unit for temperature and flue gas concentration measurements. This work describes the design and application of the sensor instrument use in large-scale waste incinerators. The data collected is used in waste incineration process modelling or as an indicator to prove the suitability of a specific incineration process.

MARTINEC Jiri;  SCHOSGER Jean-Pierre;  BAXTER David;  SVOBODA Karel;  MARTINCOVA Jana Victoria; 

2007-06-13

Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering

JRC37239