SINOPSIS

The destruction and disposal of liquid waste chemicals is a perennial problem which is gaining increasing importance. One possible method of destroying these chemicals is to incinerate them within a fluid bed where there is a relatively long residence time and the combustion of the chemicals is completed. To aid the investigation of this process a 0.17 m diameter fluid bed incinerator has been designed, constructed and tested. This report describes these activities and the tests which were performed on a range "commercial" waste chemicals. The precise composition of these chemicals was continuously changing though they were generally low vapor pressure solvents or oils contaminated with water.
During the incineration tests the effectiveness of the combustion process was determined by monitoring the emission levels of oxygen, carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons. The results of the tests showed that: i) It was possible to achieve emission levels of 5% Carbon monoxide and less than 100 ppm unburnt hydrocarbons, and that, ii) The optimum operating conditions for the bed were achieved when the exhaust gas contained 5% oxygen.