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Thermal Processing of Domestic Solid Waste Part 1 of 2 – Combustion Processes

Walter R. Niessen, P.E., B.C.E.E.


Course Outline

This course assumes a basic understanding of chemistry and mathematics and their application in combustion systems to the level provided in the two-part PDHonline course: Fundamentals of Combustion. It presumes basic engineering analysis perspectives but, through text and examples guides the student an understanding of the processes and interactions of combustion-type domestic waste incineration systems. The course includes:

Part 2 of the course carries the student further into the emerging class of domestic waste thermal processes: Conversion systems which process the waste to an intermediate fuel gas which can then be burned or used as a chemical feedstock.

This course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Intended Audience

This course is intended for civil, environmental, mechanical and chemical engineers involved with or about to be involved with the incineration of municipal solid waste.

Benefit to Attendees

The course gives practicing engineers, regulators, and permit specialists the basic tools to understand the elements of domestic solid waste incineration systems applicable to design and the preparation of permit documents.

Course Introduction

Purification by fire is an ancient concept, its applications for domestic solid wastes noted in the earliest chapters of recorded history. Modern application of these high temperature processes to achieve this end  reflect the increasing awareness by modern health and environmental professionals of the importance of effective sanitation; of the achievement of high levels of destruction of organic matter; and of the substantial neutralization of  the hazards associated with highly volatile combustible materials. However, for domestic waste, the primary focus is on volume reduction with the associated benefits in residue landfill requirements and residue hauling quantities and costs.

Often, engineers with little academic training in incineration facilities are thrust into assignments where this training gap becomes critical. This course and its predecessor course pair on Combustion Fundamentals provide an understanding of the waste and hardware characteristics for this important public works service.

Course Content

In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following course content in PDF format:

Thermal Processing of Domestic Solid Waste Part 1 of 2 – Combustion Processes

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

This course attempts to answer the question:  What is a municipal incinerator? In the early years of refuse incineration in the United States, incinerators were uncomplicated refractory furnaces equipped with metal grates (drawn in most respects from existing coal furnace designs) to move the waste into and through the burning chambers and with (looking back) incredibly simple controls and inefficient air pollution abatement. The 1970's saw the emergence of a new incineration concept: high pressure, waterwall boilers that produced superheated steam that was fed to turbo-generators for power generation (Waste-to-Energy or WTE plants) and equipped with sophisticated process control systems and costly, highly efficient air pollution control. This is the technology that dominates the existing inventory of incineration systems throughout the world. 

The course begins with a review of the key characteristics of domestic solid waste followed by the options in mass burn inciner­ator components and system designs and the special characteristics of RDF-based com­bus­tion sys­tems.  The details of RDF prepara­tion technol­ogy is left to other books [1].

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

American Society of Mechanical Engineers       http://www.asme.com/     
Air and Waste Management Association         http://www.awma.com/
Combustion Engineering Association              http://www.cea.com.uk/

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

Take a Quiz

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.