Establishing the propensity for dioxin formation using a plume temperature model for medical waste incinerator emissions in developing countries.
Open Access
- 1 July 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
- Vol. 52 (7), 811-821
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.2002.10470826
Abstract
Air pollution control devices (APCDs) are not compulsory for medical waste incinerators (MWIs) in developing countries. In South Africa, combustion gases are usually vented directly to the atmosphere at temperatures greater than the formation temperature of dioxin. The possibility of dioxin formation outside the incinerator stack has been hypothesized. A plume model has been developed and tested in the wind tunnel with a scale model of an incinerator stack. The plume temperature and trajectory predictions of the plume model were verified within a ±3% experimental accuracy. Using South African data, the plume model predicts that the residence time of gases in the temperature range of 150-450 °C in a plume is 1.3 sec on average for 5% of a year (18 days) at meteorological conditions resulting in wind speeds of less than 1 m/sec. Two published dioxin formation models were used to assess the probability of dioxin formation in the plume. The formation models predict that the average polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) formed in the plume will exceed the stack emission regulations in South Africa of 0.2 ng/Nm3 toxic equivalent quotient (TEQ) by between 2 and 40 times. The calculated concentrations do not include additional gaseous PCDD/F compounds that may be formed at high-temperature post-combustion zones through pyrosynthesis mechanisms.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparison of dioxin formation levels in laboratory gas-phase flow reactors with those calculated using the Shaub-Tsang mechanismChemosphere, 1999
- Waste Incineration and the EnvironmentPublished by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) ,1994
- Modeling of Plume Rise and Dispersion — The University of Salford Model: U.S.P.R.Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1987
- Buoyancy Effects in FluidsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1973