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Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

ISSN: 0002-2470 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uawm16

Application of Dry Flue Gas Scrubbing to


Hazardous Waste Incineration

Peter J. Kroll & Peter Williamson

To cite this article: Peter J. Kroll & Peter Williamson (1986) Application of Dry Flue Gas
Scrubbing to Hazardous Waste Incineration, Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, 36:11,
1258-1263, DOI: 10.1080/00022470.1986.10466176

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1986.10466176

Published online: 08 Mar 2012.

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Application of Dry Flue Gas Scrubbing to
Hazardous Waste Incineration

Peter J. Kroll Peter Williamson


International Waste Energy Systems Chemical Waste Management
St. Louis, Missouri Houston, Texas

d. The use of a baghouse for particu-


Dry scrubbing of the flue gas from chemical waste incineration is becoming late matter removal provides a
an increasingly viable alternative to wet scrubbing. This paper discusses the means of accommodating sustained
relative advantages and disadvantages of wet and dry scrubbing systems particulate overloading (with
and compares the relative capital and operating costs. The design shorter cleaning cycles) and a means
of dampening particulate excur-
parameters of the dry scrubbing process are discussed, including reagent sions that might occur due to a mo-
atomization, gas dispersion, gas temperatures, and particulate removal. The mentary high ash loading. Also, the
history of dry scrubbing process applications is discussed, including the cake that forms on the bags contains
successful European hazardous waste systems. Finally, a comparison is residual lime which will continue to
made among three very different hazardous waste incinerators in the U.S. react with any residual acid gas that
passes through the spray dryer ab-
that will utilize dry scrubbing systems. sorber and provide a means of
dampening acid gas excursions that
occasionally might occur.

History
Historically, the most common method sis, the caustic used in wet systems
of removing acid gases and particulate is approximately 8.5 times more ex- In the mid-1970s, developmental
from hazardous waste incineration flue pensive than pebble lime, and thus work was initiated by several firms to
gas has been a wet scrubbing process. reagent costs will be lower. apply the dry scrubbing process to in-
This typically involves an adiabatic dustrial and utility boilers for flue gas
b. Exit temperature of gas leaving the desulfurization (FGD). Several con-
quench for saturating the gases with dry system baghouse will be above
water, followed by an inertial scrubber tracts were awarded in the late 1970's
the saturation temperature, and and the first FGD dry scrubbing sys-
for particulate removal and a packed therefore, there will not be a visible
bed scrubber for acid gas removal. tems came on line in 1981. Many FGD
stack plume except during extreme systems have since been successfully
An important operation in this pro- weather conditions.
cess is the treatment of the resultant operating with the dry scrubbing pro-
scrubber effluent. Whereas this may c. A significant reduction of heavy cess in this country and abroad.
not be a significant concern for a large metals contained in the flue gases is The Niro Atomizer Company first
chemical plant complex with an ade- achieved by this system. The high applied the dry scrubbing process to
quate facility wastewater treatment degree of atomization of the lime hazardous waste incineration in Eu-
system, it can be a very substantial cost slurry produces particles of essen- rope in 1982 at the Kommunekemi fa-
and source of problems for a commer- tially all sizes up to 100 /um. This cility in Denmark. The process was
cial hazardous waste incinerator. Since enormous amount of surface acts to then applied at the SAKAB facility in
a dry scrubbing process has only a solid adsorb the bulk of the vapor-phase Sweden (see cover photo) and at the
residue discharge, it has become a via- heavy metals such as mercury, cad- Riihimaki, Finland facility (photo,
ble alternative to wet scrubbing for mium, arsenic and lead which are next page). Another hazardous waste
many incineration applications. carried over in the gas stream. In incinerator at Biebesheim, Germany
Other advantages of dry scrubbing addition, recent performance test- utilizes a conventional wet scrubber,
systems include: ing on solid waste incinerator flue but the effluent is injected into a spray
gas has shown that significant dryer upstream of the wet scrubber in
a. Lime can be used as the neutralizing amounts of products of incomplete order to obtain a dry residue discharge.
reagent. On a molar equivalent ba- combustion are also adsorbed by the All of the above facilities are regional,
Copyright 1986-Air Pollution Control Association lime slurry.1 noncommercial incinerators with ca-

1258 Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association


State particulate emission standards
may be more stringent than the RCRA
standard. Furthermore, state air quali-
ty standards for SO2 and NOX may be a
factor in permitting. Since hazardous
waste incinerators are typically 130
MM Btu/h or smaller, and their waste
is generally low in sulfur, the SO2 stan-
dards are not normally a major con-
straint.

Process Considerations

The basic elements of the dry scrub-


bing process for hazardous waste incin-
eration are shown in Figure 1. We will
assume for this discussion that the pri-
mary acid gas to be removed is HC1,
Ekokem hazardous waste incinerator in Riihimake, Finland. Photo, courtesy of Niro and that HF, HBr, H3PO4, SO2 and
Atomizer Inc., Columbia, MD.
NO* are minor constituents.
pacities in the range of 100-130 MM The first commercial hazardous waste
Btu/h. incinerator to utilize dry scrubbing is Combustion Gas Flow
The first application of dry scrub- Trade Waste Incineration (TWI) in
bing to hazardous waste incineration in Sauget, Illinois. This is a somewhat Prior to entering the spray dryer ab-
North America was at the Tricil facility larger system (14,000 acfm at 450° F sorber (SDA), the flue gas from the
in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. This large exit temperature) with a rotary atomiz- combustion chamber can be cooled by
commercial liquid injection incinerator er, provided by Joy/Niro, and is sched- enthalpy extraction in a waste heat
utilizes an alkaline waste stream as the uled to come on-stream in November boiler or by an evaporative cooling
reagent in the spray dryer absorber to 1986. chamber utilizing finely atomized wa-
remove at least 75 percent of the HC1 ter sprays, or it can be introduced to
and 50 percent of the SO2 in the flue the SDA directly at elevated tempera-
gas. The Tricil-designed spray dryer
Performance Requirements tures. In all utility, solids waste, Euro-
utilizes three dual-fluid nozzles to in- As with wet systems, dry scrubbing pean hazardous waste, and most indus-
ject the reagent and cool the gases from systems on hazardous waste incinera- trial applications a waste, heat boiler is
800° to 400° F with an average outlet tors in this country must fulfill the pro- used to cool the gases to 400-500° F pri-
volume of 65,000 acfm at 400°F. The cess requirements of the Code of Fed- or to entering the SDA. The hazardous
gases then flow to a pulse-jet baghouse, eral Regulations in 40 CFR 264 waste incinerator for the U.S. Army at
ID fan and stack. (RCRA). More specifically, 40 CFR Tooele, Utah will use an evaporative
264.343 requires a maximum stack cooler with air-atomized water sprays
The first contract for dry scrubbing to cool the gases from 2000 to 600° F
on a hazardous waste incinerator in emission of 4 lb/h of HC1 or 1 percent of
the HC1 in the flue gas prior to entering prior to the SDA. At the TWI incinera-
this country was awarded to Research- tor, gases will be brought directly into
Cottrell for the U.S. Army base at the dry scrubbing system, whichever is
greater. In addition, particulate matter the SDA at 1700-2000°F.
Tooele, Utah. It is a very small system
(5000 acfm at 400° F exit temperature) emissions must be restricted to 0.08 gr/ The use of an evaporative cooler up-
with dual-fluid nozzle atomization and dscf, corrected to an oxygen level of 7 stream of the SDA results in essentially
will not be on-stream until late in 1986. percent on a dry volume basis. two "dryers" in series and is thus a
somewhat complicated approach. Also,
LIME SLURRY
the addition of water into the gas
stream in the cooler increases the SDA
inlet humidity and thus decreases the
evaporation driving force in the SDA.
Therefore, it may seem more desirable
to bring the gases directly into the SDA
at elevated temperatures. In fact, this
creates other problems due to the ne-
cessity of dispersing the gas into the
SDA through a refractory-lined duct.
Since the gases from a waste heat
boiler or evaporative cooler enter the
^_ SOLIDS SDA at 800°F or less, they can be intro-
TO DISPOSAL
duced around the atomizer through a
highly efficient, carbon steel gas dis-
PEBBLE LIME persion mechanism. However, the gas-
WATER es entering the SDA at elevated tem-
peratures must be introduced through
a refractory-lined duct with little pro-
vision for gas dispersion. This results in
a larger SDA chamber, greater lime us-
Figure 1. Dry scrubbing process. age and the need for higher SDA outlet

November 1986 Volume 36, No. 11 1259


HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
ROTARY ATOMIZER DRYER TWO-FLUID NOZZLE DRYERS

INDIVIDUAL MIXING

VANE RING
GAS DISPERSER

10-12 10-12
SECONDS SECONDS

GAS

SOLIDS

Figure 2. Spray dryer arrangements.

temperatures to insure complete dry- the acid gas, although the actual re- mally downflow and cocurrent with the
ing. agent feed will be at least 50 percent reagent flow.
Another advantage of cooling the excess lime to assure high removal effi- The SDA inlet temperature is nor-
gases below 800° F prior to the SDA is ciencies. The principal reaction that mally maintained at 450-800°F, de-
the simultaneous cooling of any molten occurs is: pending on the acid gas concentration.
particulates below their fusion point so The maximum practical temperature
they can be easily removed. Molten Ca(OH)2 + 2HC1 -* CaCl2 + 2H2O of 800°F is determined by the working
particulate has historically been a To a lesser extent, when SO2 is limits of carbon steel construction for
source of operating problems for com- present the following reaction will oc- the SDA. This, in turn, limits the
mercial and industrial incinerators. cur: amount of lime slurry which can be
It would appear that the use of a dried in the chamber and, therefore,
waste heat boiler upstream of the SDA Ca(OH)2 + SO2 -* CaSO3 + H2O the maximum acid gas concentration
would be the best approach if the resul- Some carbonation of lime also occurs which can be accommodated by the dry
tant steam can be utilized at the facili- due to the high carbon dioxide content scrubbing process is limited to approxi-
ty. The boiler will result in the smallest of the flue gas: mately 15,000 ppm of HC1 by volume in
dry scrubbing system of the three alter- the SDA inlet. This is difficult to trans-
natives due to the lower volume of Ca(OH)2 + CO2 — CaCO3 + H2O late into a maximum weight percent of
evaporated water and more efficient Line usage is generally defined in chlorine in the waste feed because of
gas dispersion. However, the boiler terms of SDA inlet molar equivalence the influence of combustion gas excess
should be designed with a flue gas re- ratios (MER) where: air and humidity.
circulation system to allow for greater The SDA outlet temperature is nor-
control of the SDA inlet temperature, mole-equivalents mally maintained as low as possible in
to compensate for load changes; as well of active Ca(OH)2 order to keep the droplets moist as long
as a large radiant section to cool molten MER = as possible and thereby increase the re-
mole-equivalents
particulate below its fusion point prior ofHClandSO 2 action rate. Moist particles will remove
to the convective section. HC1 through absorption, whereas dry
The SDA chamber geometry is de- particles will only use a slower adsorp-
Spray Dryer Absorber termined by the type of slurry atomiza- tion mechanism.2
tion and gas flow distribution em- CaCl2 exists as an anhydride above
The combustion gas from the incin- ployed (see Figure 2). In all cases a 392°F. Below this temperature, hydra-
erator enters the spray dryer absorber nominal 10-12 seconds of gas residence tion at the rate of 2 moles of water per
through a roof-mounted gas disperser time in the active SDA volume is al- mole of anhydride will occur. At 86°F,
and is distributed symmetrically lowed to ensure complete drying of the an additional 4 moles of water per mole
around one or more atomizers. The absorbent without wetting the cham- of anhydride are added. The high water
finely atomized absorbent (lime slurry) ber walls. Although the chamber geom- vapor partial pressure in the SDA out-
reacts essentially quantitatively with etries may differ, the gas flow is nor- let gas will enhance the formation of

1260 Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association


hydrates. Since only a fraction of the use of abrasion-resistant, replaceable paste slaker, which produces a 25 per-
dried product is CaCl2, the outlet tem- inserts due to the action of the high cent solids lime slurry. A smaller facili-
perature can be as low as 270-300°F velocity slurry stream. The following ty would probably use the more costly
without problems. Below this tempera- comparisons can be made between the hydrated lime instead, to avoid the
ture, however, the hygroscopic CaCl2 two atomizer types: capital and maintenance costs associ-
can be extremely corrosive to carbon 1. Rotary atomizers provide smaller ated with slakers. This slurry can be
steel equipment. droplets and a narrower droplet diluted to as low as 5 percent solids in
size distribution than two-fluid the surge tank in order to accommo-
Atomization Systems nozzles and therefore may provide date major acid gas load concentration
higher removal efficiencies. changes in the flue gas, which may re-
Slurry atomization and gas disper- sult from switching waste blend tanks
sion are the two most critical factors in 2. A rotary atomizer is a highly so- or some other step change. Since there
the performance of the SDA. Two basic phisticated, high-speed machine is a substantial amount of dead time in
atomization methods are utilized in the requiring well-trained mainte- the process due to the slurry tank vol-
dry scrubbing process: rotary atomiza- nance staff with special tools and ume, an additional control mechanism
tion and two-fluid nozzles. equipment. A dual-fluid nozzle can must be employed for. faster control re-
Rotary atomizers typically consist of be maintained with common tools sponse. As indicated in Figure 3, a
a 3600 ppm motor coupled to a step-up and is more simple in design. small (30-gallon) dilution tank can be
gearbox which provides the required 3. A rotary atomizer has higher main- employed directly upstream of the at-
rotational speed (10,000-20,000 rpm) tenance and capital costs, but af- omizer for this purpose.
for the atomizer wheel. Slurry is intro- fords somewhat lower reagent costs The control system shown in Figure
duced into the center of the wheel and due to the higher efficiency provid- 3 utilizes a feedback signal from an HG1
extends over the rotating surface as a ed by smaller droplet size. analyzer mounted in the stack and a
thin film. Centrifugal forces accelerate 4. Experience has shown that for bias signal from a combustion gas flow-
the slurry at the perimeter of the wheel larger systems (above 100,000 meter to adjust the setpoint of the lime
where.shear forces disintegrate the film acfm), dual-fluid nozzle mainte- slurry flow controller. The spray dryer
into droplets ranging from 30-iOO jum nance and capital costs and power outlet temperature is used to adjust the
in diameter. The droplet trajectory requirements approach those of ro- setpont of the total dilution slurry flow
produces a wide spray pattern that par- tary atomizers. controller, which modulates a dilution
tially determines the chamber diame- 5. Gas flow turndown is much lower water control valve.
ter. on a rotary atomizer (2.5:1) versus
Dual-fluid nozzles use 70-90 psig a dual-fluid nozzle (20:1), but re- Fabric Filter
compressed air to provide the energy to agent flow turndown is much high-
disintegrate the slurry into fine drop- er on a rotary atomizer (20:1) ver- The combustion gases leaving the
lets (70-200 fim). The spray created by sus a dual-fluid nozzle (3:1).3 SDA enter a multicompartment, pulse-
the nozzle is a narrower droplet cloud jet fabric filter for particulate removal.
than that created by a rotary atomizer, Lime Slurry System The dried solids in the gas stream form
and, as such, results in a smaller cham- a cake on the bag surface and provide
ber diameter. High-calcium pebble lime from a additional air/solids, 15-20 percent of
Both types of atomizers require the storage silo and water are fed into a the acid gas is removed at this point.4

FEEDBACK FROM
HCL ANALYZER

LIME SLURRY
FROM SURGE
TANK

DILUTION
WATER

FT=FLOW TRANSMITTER
FIOFLOW INDICATING
CONTROLLER
S.P.=SETPOINT
FEEDBACK FROM
SDA OUTLET
TEMPERATURE
CONTROLLER

DILUTED SLURRY
TO ATOMIZER

Figure 3. Slurry flow control system.

November 1986 Volume 36, No. 11 1261


HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
LIME SLURRY

580 L0/t1R Ca(OH),


7,430 LB/HR H,0
INCINERATOR DISCHARGE
FLUE GAS TO STACK

H,O: 1,990 H,O: 9,420 LB/HR


HCL: 150 LB/HR HCL: 2 LB/HR
ASH: 52 LB/HR SPRAY ASH: 1 LB/HR
PULS E-JET 440°F
1900°F DRYER BAG^10USE 13,680 ACFM
22,500 ACFM ABSORBER
ID FAN

DRIED SOLIDS
930 LB/HR
— LIME SYSTEM: BULK HYDRATED LIME AND SLURRY TANK
— SPRAY DRYER RETENTION TIME: 35 SECONDS
— BAGHOUSE NET AIR/CLOTH RATIO: 1.13
— MOLAR EQUIVALENCE RATIO: 3.81
Figure 4. TWI gas cleaning flow diagram.

This cake also acts as reserve system volve dried solids that are high in CaCl2 effluent discharge to the municipal
alkalinity to smooth out any sudden content. The hygroscopic nature of sewer,
acid gas load changes. CaCl2 implies that this material is diffi- TWI obtained a permit from the Illi-
An electrostatic precipitator would cult to dry. As a result there is little nois EPA to construct two new 15 MM
not have this dried solids cake layer, reason to create a higher concentration Btu/h incinerators in February 1985.
and would thus require all acid gas to of CaCl2 in the slurry feed and compli- An economic and process evaluation by
be removed in the SDA. For this rea- cate the drying process. International Waste Energy Systems
son, a fabric filter is preferred for dry The dried solids are collected from (IWES) showed that the capital and
scrubbing systems for hazardous waste heated hoppers under the SDA and operating costs of wet scrubbing sys-
incineration. Since most of these incin- baghouse and conveyed to a single dis- tems, including effluent treatment, for
erators are 130 MM Btu/h or smaller, a charge point. Since all by-products of these incinerators was much greater
pulse-jet filter is normally used. hazardous waste incineration are con- than that for dry scrubbing systems.
The baghouse normally consists of sidered under RCRA to be hazardous CWM has filed a RCRA Part B per-
separate modules to facilitate insula- wastes unless they are delisted mit for a 50 MM Btu/h rotary kiln in-
tion for corrosion prevention. The net (through a complicated regulatory pro- cineration system for its Emelle, Ala-
air-to-cloth ratio with one module off- cess), the dried solids are normally tak- bama facility. There is currently a
line should be in the range of 3:1, or en to a secure landfill for disposal. Al- chemical waste landfill at this facility
lower, in order to provide low gas veloc- ternatively, the solids may be used in a but no effluent treatment systems. The
ity and high solids residence time. waste solidification process because of facility has a water supply shortage and
their high alkalinity and fly ash con- a desire to eliminate effluent discharge.
Dried Solids System tent. For these reasons, the incineration sys-
tem is being designed by IWES using a
The process depicted in Figure 1 is dry scrubbing process.
Commercial Incinerator Application
notably different from most dry FGD IWES is also in the process of devel-
systems in that there is no recycle of oping a mobile rotary kiln incineration
dried solids to the slurry system. Most Chemical Waste Management Experience system. Because most remedial hazard-
FGD systems use recycle to increase ous waste sites are remote and have
reagent utilization and improve slurry Chemical Waste Management inadequate water supply and accom-
drying characteristics. However, haz- (CWM) has two existing hazardous modations for an effluent discharge,
ardous waste systems would not nor- waste incinerators with wet scrubbing the dry scrubbing process will be ap-
mally utilize recycle of solids for the systems: the SCA Chemical Services plied to this system as well. The dried
following reasons: unit in Chicago and the TWI incinera- solids and kiln ash should be able to be
As stated previously, hazardous tor in Sauget, Illinois. In order for the stored and delisted at the site.
waste incinerators are generally much SCA commercial PCB incinerator to
smaller than dry FGD applications discharge its wet scrubber effluent into System Comparisons
and, as such, the additional capital cost the municipal sanitary district sewer, it
for a recycle system cannot normally be must maintain limits on the pH, tem- Figures 4 and 5 are block flow dia-
justified. In addition, dry FGD applica- perature, suspended and dissolved sol- grams for the TWI and Emelle facili-
tions normally involve dried solids that ids, and heavy metals concentration. ties. As discussed earlier, the TWI
are primarily CaSO3, whereas hazard- Similarly, the TWI facility must con- starved-air incinerator gas will enter
ous waste applications will usually in- trol heavy metals concentration in its the SDA directly at high temperatures

1262 Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association


LIME SLURRY
WATER Ca(OH),: 3,310 LB/HR
22,900 LB/HR HJO: 13,480 LB/HR

SPRAY
EVAPORATIVE DRYER CYCLONES
INCINERATOR COOLER ABSORBER
FLUE GAS

HaO: 6,610 LB/HR


HCL: 950 LB/HR
SO>: 600 LB/HR
REVERSE-AIR
ASH: 1,125 LB/HR
BAGHOUSE
2200°F DISCHARGE
84,670 ACFM TO STACK ID FAN

H,0: 42,550 LB/HR


HCL: 9 LB/HR
SO>: 60 LB/HR DRIED
ASH: 10 LB/HR SOLIDS
— LIME SYSTEM: BULK PEBBLE LIME AND SLAKER
— SPRAY DRYER RETENTION TIME: 15 SECONDS 290" F 5,730 LB/HR
— BAGHOUSE NET AIR/CLOTH RATIO: 1.04 40,450 ACFM
— MOLAR EQUIVALENCE RATIO: 2.0

Figure 5. Emelle gas cleaning flow diagram.

through a refractory-lined duct. The able for removal of acid gas and partic- Scrubbing of Hazardous Waste Incinera-
gases at 400-450° F will then flow to a ulate from hazardous waste incinerator tor Flue Gas by Spray Dryer Absorp-
four-module, pulse-jet filter and then tion," APCA Annual Meeting, San Fran-
combustion gases. Although there are cisco, 1984.
to the fan and stack. some limitations to dry scrubbing, it is 3. P. G. Maurin, H. J. Peters, V. J. Petti, F.
In comparison, the Emelle rotary becoming an increasingly viable alter- A. Aiken, "Two fluid nozzle vs. rotary
kiln incinerator gas will first be condi- native to wet scrubbing. This is partic- atomization for dry scrubbing systems,"
tioned by water sprays in an evapora- ularly true for applications where wa- Chemical Engineering Progress, (April
1983).
tive cooler to reduce the gases from ter and effluent treatment systems are 4. J. R. Donnelly, M. T. Quoch, J. T. Moller,
2200 to 550-800°F. The gases will enter unavailable, inadequate or costly. "Joy/Niro Spray Dryer Absorption Flue
the SDA through a pitched-vane, roof- Gas Cleaning System," Acid Gas &
mounted, gas disperser and exit at 300- Dioxin Control Conference, Washington,
Acknowledgments DC, 1985.
400°F. The gases will then flow
through a dual cyclone system, induced The authors would like to thank Wi-
draft fan, baghouse and stack. The leen E. Sweet for her assistance in coor-
baghouse is an existing, eight-compart- dinating this paper; and Joy Manufac-
ment, reverse-air filter which will oper- turing Western Precipitation Division
ate under positive pressure. The in- and Wheelabrator Air Pollution Con- Mr. Kroll is with International
duced draft fan will be placed up- Waste Energy Systems, 2150 Kienlen
trol for their technical support. Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63121. Mr.
stream of the baghouse and the Williamson is with Chemical Waste
cyclones will be placed between the fan Management in Houston, TX. Origi-
and SDA. References nally presented as paper 86-10.4 at
the 79th APCA Annual Meeting,
1. J. T. Moller, O. B. Christiansen, "Dry, Minneapolis, MN, June 1986, this
Conclusions Scrubbing of MSW Incinerator Flue Gas paper was recommended for publica-
by Spray Dryer Absorption: New Devel- tion in JAPCA as part of the Annual
opments in Europe," APCA Annual Meeting Technical Program peer re-
The dry scrubbing process has been Meeting, Detroit, 1985. view process.
proven to be highly efficient and reli- 2. J. T. Moller, O. B. Christiansen, "Dry

November 1986 Volume 36, No. 11 1263

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