The effect of the ratio of excess air and the process time on CO and NO_x emissions from the combustion of alternative fuel in a grate furnace

Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Konarskiego 18 str., 44-100, Gliwice, Poland

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Abstract

One of the basic problems of environmental protection is the problem of municipal waste management. As the experience of the richest developed countries shows, it is possible to achieve a zero-landfill level of economy. However, such a level can only be achieved if several dozen percent of municipal waste generated is subjected to processes of energy utilisation. At the same time, at present, the EU countries are moving away from waste incineration processes towards the processes of energetic use of fuels based on them. In the first part of the article, the problem of thermal utilisation of municipal waste in Poland is highlighted. The results of analyses of selected fuel parameters of municipal waste and formed fuels have been presented. The second part of the paper outlines the issue of fuel combustion in grate furnaces. In the further part of the article the methodology and results of laboratory tests of combustion of formed fuel are presented. The research has been carried out on a test stand enabling simulation of processes occurring in furnaces with mechanical grates. Within the framework of the presented studies, the influence of total process duration and excess air ratio on the amount of CO and NO_x emissions was taken into account. The paper presents both the changes in the emissions of the abovementioned gases over time and the total emissions related to the unit of the formed fuel burnt.