Title

An experimental and theoretical investigation of combustion efficiency in a circulating fluidized bed, organic liquid incinerator

Date of Completion

January 1990

Keywords

Engineering, Chemical|Engineering, Sanitary and Municipal

Degree

Ph.D.

Abstract

An incinerator's combustion efficiency (CE) indicates the effectiveness of the incinerator to completely oxidize waste. Circulating fluidized beds (CFB's) show promise as a viable hazardous waste incineration process, but to fulfill this promise, an understanding of the interaction between CE and important operating parameters is still needed.^ To gain this understanding, an experimental and a theoretical investigation of CFB incineration was performed. A CFB incinerator was constructed to study the destruction of an organic liquid waste. An experimental program on incineration was conducted with propanol as the simulated waste. Operating data on the dependence of CE as a function of major operating parameters such as excess air, average particle size, and primary air/total air ratio for this facility is presented.^ A theoretical process model specific to CFB incineration of an organic liquid waste is developed, and the numerical implementation of the model is presented. Model constants are fitted with experimental data so the process model specifically describes the CFB pilot plant. Process sensitivity to major operating parameters is investigated in series of simulations. Design configurations slightly different from the experimental CFB such as the column height and preheat temperature of combustion air are also studied with the model. ^

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