Control of stack emissions using hydrated lime injections during incineration of healthcare risk waste : a case study of Biomed in Benoni

Abstract

Incineration is still a widely utilised method for treating healthcare risk waste in the Republic of South Africa. As much as incinerators are needed, the fact that they are still a critical source of hazardous toxic air pollutants that are not easy to manage cannot be disregarded. The Ministry of Environmental Affairs has promulgated a new regulation for General and Hazardous Waste Thermal Treatment. This exceedingly stringent air pollution legislation requires that existing incinerators be modified or redesigned to meet the new air quality standards, or face closure in the event that they fail to comply. The regulation contains strict emission requirements for concentrations of stack gases such as CO2, NO2, NOx, HCl, HF, CO, SO2, as well as TOC and PM. To be certain that emissions are within the standard, incineration facilities are instructed to reduce the acid gas emissions and to have permanent on-line monitoring equipment for stack testing of regulated pollutants. Since the promulgation of the new legislation in April 2015, none of the incinerators in South Africa has been able to achieve the new requirements. This study, based on the quantitative approach, was conducted in search of a cost-effective method of controlling acid gas emissions from incinerators without major adjustments to the plants. During the study, 60 kg of sorbacal Ca(OH)2 was injected into a lime feeder every day. A variable speed drive was used to inject Ca(OH)2 into the furnace continuously at a rate of between 2.5 kg/h and 3.5 kg/h. The temperature was maintained between 850°C and 1200°C with the use of four gas burners. Two manual blowers were utilised to ensure a continuous flow of Ca(OH)2 into the reaction chamber and filtration system. Comparative analysis was done to compare gas emission levels before and after the use of hydrated lime. Descriptive statistics were used to compute the mean, frequency and percentages, while Wilcoxon sign rank test established whether hydrated lime was significant in reducing gaseous emissions or not. Wilcoxon sign rank test showed a statistically significant difference (P<0.05) in the reduction of all gaseous emissions using hydrated lime, except particulate matter where there was a significant increase in emissions. This technology was able to achieve high removal efficiency of 97% for HCl, 86% for HF, 83% for NOx, 87% for SO2 and 74% for NO2. The optimum temperature for SO2 and NOx was 1020°C. For HCl it was between 1190°C and 1200°C, and for NO2 it was between 1120°C and 1200°C. The amount of particulate matter increased along with the concentration of the Ca(OH)2 injections. Ca(OH)2 was found to be cost effective in the controlling and capturing of gaseous emissions. It is recommended that combustion requirements, such as heat, oxygen and turbulence, be considered to reduce the amount of gases generated during the incineration of healthcare risk waste. It is also recommended that electrostatic precipitators be used instead of fabric filters to improve the efficiency of capturing the particulate matter.