Entrained phase adsorption of PCDD/F from incinerator flue gases

The emission abatement of polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) issued from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is growing in importance because of more stringent emission standards and general health concern. These substances cannot be separated by conventional gas cleanup processes. They are successfully removed through adsorption onto carbonaceous materials, and the entrained-phase injection of pulverized adsorbents in the flue gas, followed by high-efficiency separation, is widely applied. Operating conditions and results obtained in Flemish MSWIs are given. The results illustrate the excellent overall removal efficiency: the regulation limit of 0.1 ng TEO/Nm3 dry gas at 11% O2 can be achieved. Furans are adsorbed to a slightly higher extent than the dioxins. The PCDD/F removal by carbonaceous adsorbents is thereafter modeled from first principles for the contribution of both entrained-phase (eta1) and cake filtration (eta2) to the overall efficiency (etaT), with dominant parameters being the operating temperature, the dosage and activity of adsorbent, and the fraction of adsorbent in the filter cake. Application of the model equations and comparison of measured and predicted overall efficiencies for the Flemish MSWIs demonstrate the validity of the model, which enables the MSWI operators both to predict the adsorption efficiencies for combinations of major operating parameters and to assess the sensitivity of the process to varying operating conditions. Finally, some practical difficulties encountered with the entrained-phase adsorption are discussed.