25 July 2006
...This report was prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on Health Effects of Waste Incineration. The committee was formed to assess relationships between waste incineration and human health and to consider specific issues related to the incineration of hazardous waste, municipal solid waste, and medical waste. The committee was asked to consider various design, siting, and operating conditions at waste-incineration facilities with respect to releases of potentially harmful pollutants to the environment....
...Operation of the incinerator also affects the emission of heavy metals, chlorine, sulfur, and nitrogen that may be present in the waste fed into the incinerator. Such chemicals are not destroyed during combustion, but are distributed among the bottom ash, fly ash, and released gases in proportions that depend on the characteristics of the metal and the combustion conditions....
...using well-trained employees (but, are they well paid?) can help ensure that an incinerator is operated to its maximal combustion efficiency and that the emission-control devices are operated optimally for pollutant capture or neutralization....
...New combustor designs; continuous emission monitors; emissions-control technologies; operating practices; and techniques for source reduction, fuel cleaning, and fuel preparation, including records of demonstrated environmental performance and effects on emissions and ash.
Emission and process conditions during startup, shutdown, and upset conditions. Emissions testing has usually been performed under relatively steady-state conditions. However, the greatest emissions are expected to occur during startup, shutdown, and malfunctions. Such emissions need to be better characterized with respect to possible health effects. Therefore, data are needed on the level of emissions, the frequency of accidents and other off-normal performance, and the reasons for such occurrences....
