The ABC of Incineration
The ABC of Incineration
1. Air: All air supplied to the incinerator equipment for combustion, ventilation, cooling, etc. Standard air is air at a standard temperature and pressure, namely 0°C and 1 atm.
2. Air jets: Streams of high velocity air issuing from nozzles in the incinerator enclosure, to provide turbulence. The air jets, depending on their location, may be used to provide excess, primary, secondary or over fire air.
3. After Burner: A burner installed in the incinerator secondary combustion chamber or in chambers separated from the incinerator proper. (Sometimes referred to as a secondary burner).
4. Auxiliary-Fuel Firing Equipment: Equipment to supply additional heat, by the combustion of an auxiliary fuel, for the purpose of attaining temperatures sufficiently high (a) to dry and ignite the waste material, (b) to maintain ignition thereof, and (c) to effect complete combustion of combustible solids, vapors and gases.
5. Baffle: Any refractory construction intended to change the direction of flow of the incinerator’s products of combustion.
6. Breeching or Flue Connection: The connection between the incinerator and auxiliary equipment; between the incinerator and the stack or chimney; or between auxiliary equipment and stack or chimney.
7. Burner: A device for the introduction of a flame by delivering fuel and its combustion air, at desired velocities and turbulence, to establish and maintain proper ignition and combustion of the fuel.
8. Burning Area: The horizontal projected area of the incinerator’s grate, hearth, or combination thereof on which burning takes place.
9. Burning Rate: The amount of waste incinerated per unit time, usually expressed in kilograms per hour.
10. By-Pass: An arrangement of breechings or flue connections and dampers to permit the alternate use of two or more pieces of equipment by directing or diverting the flow of the products of combustion.
11. Barometric: A hinged or pivoted balanced blade placed so as to admit air to the breeching, flue connection or stack thereby automatically maintaining a constant draft in the incinerator.
12. Butterfly: A plate or blade installed in a duct breeching, flue connection or stack, which rotates on its axis.
13. Capacity: The amount of waste incinerated, usually expressed in kilograms per hour, with the type of waste stipulated.
14. Charging Chute: A vertical passage through which waste materials are conveyed from above to the incinerator primary combustion chamber.
15. Checker work: A pattern of multiple openings in refractory through which the products of combustion pass to promote turbulent mixing of the gases.
16. Chimney, Stack or Flue: A vertical passage for conducting products of combustion to the atmosphere.
17. Clinker: Hard, sintered or fused pieces formed in the fire by agglomeration of ash, metals, glass and ceramic from the residue.
18. Cold Hearth: A surface upon which waste material is placed to dry and/or burn aided by the action of hot combustion gases passing only over the waste material.
19. Curtain Wall: A partition wall between incinerator chambers, which serves to deflect gases in a down ward direction. (Sometimes referred to as a drop arch.)
20. Damper: A manually or automatically controlled device to regulate draft or the rate of flow of air or combustion gases.
21. Down Pass: Chamber or gas passage between two chambers to carry the products of combustion in a downward direction.
22. Draft The pressure difference existing between the incinerator or any component part and the atmosphere, which causes a continuous flow of air/products of combustion through the gas passages of the incinerator to the atmosphere.
23. Drop Arch: Any vertical refractory wall supported by arch construction, which serves to deflect gases in a downward direction. (Sometimes referred to as a curtain wall).
24. Dust Loading: The amount of fly ash carried in the products of combustion, usually expressed in grains per std. cu ft. or in pounds per thousand pounds of flue gas.
25. Excess Air: The air remaining after a fuel has been completely burned, or that air supplied in addition to the theoretical quantity.
26. Effluent: The flue gas or products of combustion that reach the atmosphere from the burning process.
27. Expansion or Settling Chamber: Any chamber designed to reduce the velocity of the products of combustion to promote the settling of fly ash from the gas stream.
28. Forced Draft. The pressure difference created by the action of a fan, blower, or ejector, which supplies the primary combustion air above atmosphere pressure.
29. Flue Gas: All gases which leave the incinerator by way of the flue, including gaseous products of combustion, water vapor, excess air and nitrogen, (Sometimes referred to as the products of combustion.)
30. Flue, Stack or Chimney: A vertical passage for conducting products of combustion to the atmosphere.
31. Fly ash: Suspended ash particles, charred paper, duct, soot or other partially incinerated matter, carried in the products of combustion. (Sometimes referred to as particulate matter or pollutants.)
32. Fly Ash Collector: Auxiliary equipment designed to remove fly ash in dry form from the products of combustion.
33. Flue Connection or Breeching: The connection between the incinerator and auxiliary equipment; between the incinerator and stack of chimney; or between auxiliary equipment and stack or chimney.
34. Guillotine: An adjustable blade installed vertically in a breeching or flue connection arranged to move vertically across the breeching or flue connection, usually counterbalanced for easy operation.
35. Gas Washer or Scrubber: Equipment for removing fly ash and other objectionable materials from the products of combustion by means of sprays, wet baffles, etc.
36. Grate: Surface with suitable openings to support the fuel bed and permit passage of air through the burning fuel. It is usually located in the incinerator primary combustion chamber and is designed to permit removal of un-burned residue, and may be horizontal or inclined, stationary or movable.
37. Hearth: A solid surface upon which waste material with high moisture content, or liquids or waste material which may turn to liquid before burning is placed for drying or burning.
38. Hot Hearth: A surface upon which waste material is placed to dry and/or burn by the action of hot combustion gases that pass first over the waste materials and then under the hearth.
39. Heating Value: The heat released by combustion of a unit quantity of waste or fuel, measured in British Thermal Units (Btu).
40. Heat of Combustion: The heat released by combustion of a unit quantity of waste or fuel, measured in British Thermal Units (Btu).
41. Heat Release Rate: The amount of heat liberated during the process of complete combustion and expressed in B.T.U. per hour per cubic foot of the internal furnace volume in which such combustion takes place.
42. Induced Draft. The pressure difference created by the action of a fan, blower, or ejector, which is located between the incinerator and the stack, or at the stack exit.
43. Incineration: The process of igniting and burning solid, semi-solid, or gaseous combustible waste to carbon dioxide and water vapor.
44. Incinerator: An engineered apparatus capable of withstanding heat and designed to efficiently reduce solid, semi-solid, liquid or gaseous wastes at specified rates and from which the residues contain little or no combustible material.
45. Mixing Chamber: Chamber usually placed between the incinerator primary combustion chamber and the secondary combustion chamber where thorough mixing of the products of combustion is accomplished by turbulence created by increased velocities of gases, checker work and/or turns in direction of the gas flow.
46. Natural Draft. The pressure difference created by stack or chimney due to its height and the temperature difference between the flue gases and the atmosphere.
47. Over fire Air: Any air, controlled with respect to quantity and direction, supplied beyond the fuel bed, as through ports in the walls of the incinerator primary combustion chamber, for the purpose of completing combustion of combustible materials in the gases from the fuel bed, or to reduce operating temperatures within the incinerator. (Sometimes referred to as secondary air.)
48. Primary Air: Any air controlled with respect to quantity and direction, forced or induced, supplied through or adjacent to the incinerator fuel bed, for the purpose of promoting combustion of the combustible materials in the fuel bed.
49. Primary Burner: A burner installed in the incinerator primary combustion chamber to dry out and ignite the material to be burned.
50. Particulates or Particulate Matter: Suspended ash particles, charred paper, dust, soot or other partially incinerated matter, carried in the products of combustion. (Sometimes referred to as fly ash.)
51. Pollutants: Any solid, liquid or gaseous matter in the effluent which tends to pollute the atmosphere.
52. Secondary Air: Any air, controlled with respect to quantity and direction, supplied beyond the fuel bed, as through ports in the walls, or bridge wall of the incinerator primary combustion chamber (over fire air), or the secondary combustion chamber, for the purpose of completing combustion of combustible materials in the gases from the fuel bed, or to reduce operating temperature within the incinerator
53. Secondary Burner: A burner installed in the incinerator secondary combustion chamber to maintain temperature and complete the combustion process. (Sometimes referred to as an after burner.)
54. Sliding: An adjustable blade installed in a duct breeching, flue connection or stack, arranged to move horizontally across the duct, breeching, flue connection or stack.
55. Scrubber or Gas Washer: Equipment for removing fly ash and other objectionable materials from the products of combustion by means of sprays, wet baffles, etc.
56. Secondary Combustion Chamber: Chamber where unburned combustible materials from the incinerator primary chamber are completely burned.
57. Settling or Combustion Chamber: Any chamber designed to reduce the velocity of the products of combustion to promote the settling of fly ash from the gas stream.
58. Spark Arrester. (Smut Arrester): A screen like device to prevent sparks, embers, or other ignited materials above a given size from being expelled to the atmosphere.
59. Stack, Chimney, or Flue: A vertical passage of conducting products of combustion to the atmosphere.
60. Theoretical Air: The exact amount of air required to supply oxygen for complete combustion of a given quantity of a specific fuel inside the incinerator.
61. Under fire Air: Any air controlled with respect to quantity and direction, forced or induced, supplied beneath the incinerator grate that passes through the fuel bed.