Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formation in sludge incineration by fluidised bed and rotary kiln furnace

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are typical pollutants arising from incineration. They are produced in any incomplete combustion principally due to inhomogeneities in a combustion chamber. The effects of the afterburning temperature on PAHs formation during sewage sludge incineration are discussed in this paper. Tests were performed inside the area of the wastewater treatment plant of 'Bari Ovest' on a demonstrative plant (maximum throughput 250 kg hr(-1) of dewatered sludge at 20% solids concentration) equipped with a fluidised bed furnace (FBF) and a rotary kiln furnace (RKF) where sewage sludge was fed, either as it was taken from the dewatering section of the wastewater treatment plant, or previously spiked by different dosages of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Exhaust gases were sampled before the bag filter, where the pollutants can be considered representative of those arising from the process. Parallel sampling of flue gas at the stack was also carried out. In the FBF tests with sludge spiked with high dosages of chlorinated hydrocarbons highest values of PAHs concentrations (> 3.9 mug Nm(-3)) were detected before filtration, when the afterburning chamber was not in use. The operation of the afterburning chamber, at a temperature higher than 900degreesC, allows to partially suppress PAHs formation up to values of 0.9 - 3.2 mug Nm(-3). PAHs removal efficiency of the exhaust gas treatment was calculated with a mean value for all the test of 72%. In RKF tests PAHs displayed much lower values before filtration ( range 0.04 - 2.98 mug Nm(-3), mean value 0.51 mug Nm(-3)) probably due to the longer gas residence time in the furnace (> 6 s in comparison with values < 2 s in fluidised bed furnace). Surprisingly, for RKF tests PAHs removal efficiency of gas treatment appeared quite unstable: some tests evidenced PAHs stripping in the scrubber, where the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant was used. No correlation was observed in RKF tests between PAHs concentration before the bag filter and the temperature of the afterburning chamber.