Carbon monoxide formation and emissions during waste incineration in a grate-circulating fluidized bed incinerator

This paper presents an experimental study of carbon monoxide (CO) formation and emissions in both grate drying bed incinerators and circulating fluidized bed (CFB) incinerators to simulate the two key parts of a combined grate and circulating fluidized bed (grate-CFB) incinerator in order to investigate pollutant emission control in municipal solid waste (MSW) combustion that occurs in a grate-CFB incinerator utilizing a patented technology. Polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, kitchen waste, paper, textile, etc. were chosen to simulate the MSW. The effects of temperature, air staging, and moisture on the CO formation and emissions were analysed for both the grate drying bed combustion and the CFB combustion. In the grate drying bed, the low temperatures increased the carbon to CO conversion rate which also increased slightly with the moisture content. Industrial field tests in a commercial grate-CFB incinerator showed that the CO concentration at the grate drying bed exit was very high and decreased along furnace height. The carbon to CO conversion rates were 0-20% for the grate drying bed which exceeded the range of 0.8-16% measured in a grate drying bed exit of the commercial grate-CFB incinerator tests. In the commercial grate-CFB incinerator tests, at excess air ratios ranging from 1.5-2.0 or more, the CO emissions decreased to a low and stable level, whose corresponding carbon to CO conversion rates were far lower than 0-10%. The low CO emission is one of the factors enabling the polychlorinated dibenzodioxin/polychlorinated dibenzofuran emissions to satisfy the Chinese national regulations.