Combustion behaviour of coal-waste flames in pulverized fuel firing systems

In the European countries, and especially in Germany, the disposal of waste material is becoming more and more a problem. Incineration plants which should provide the capacity to take over the thermal treatment of the waste material are hardly accepted by the population. For this reason it is nearly impossible to install new facilities. Moreover the prospect of future waste disposal will be dominated by the idea of separating waste streams and treating them specifically in order to reach the best possibilities for all kinds of further utilization. In municipal waste as well as in industrial residues there are many kinds of materials which occur separately. Their specific properties are often very homogenous and reliably Stable over a long time. For those materials where recycling is not possible or, due to economic aspects, not reasonable we have to think about energy recovery with the best way of thermal treatment. Power plants for the combustion of fossil fuels like coal can provide a high efficiency in energy conversion. If the range of hazardous matter in the waste streams is suitable to be treated and recovered by the existing flue gas cleaning system, co-combustion of waste in existing power plants can havemore » both economical and environmental benefits in comparison to the normal waste incineration. Wastes of a sufficient amount and a homogeneous composition can be considered for co-combustion. By choosing the best combination of fuels and waste as fuel substitutes the aim is to use synergetic effects to improve the combustion process beyond the limits of a single fuel.« less