Ketek Manufacturing (with support from IRAP) is striving to deveolp a modularized portable incinerator with performances that meet current and coming Government of Canada emissions regulations. 

Technical Objectives of Current Ketek Manufacturing Research and Development

Overall objective:

• To develop a cost-effective control system for dioxin emissions from a small scale waste incinerator that:

1. Meets the Canada-wide standards (CWS) for dioxins/furans as specified by the Canadian Council of the Ministers of the Environment;
2. Can be readily transported to, assembled, and used in remote, intemperate areas and operated by personnel with limited technical knowledge of incineration; and
3. Has automated data acquisition and retrieval capabilities, from which regulatory agencies can review the operation of the system.

• To generate information on the performance of the control system which supports the formulation of practical and technically sound regulations.

Sub-objectives and performance targets:

• Air emissions of less than 80 pg (TEQ)/Rm³ of chlorinated dioxins/furans;
• Modular construction of the control system, with each component weighing less than 400kg and a maximum dimension of 1.5m to facilitate transportation to remote communities;
• Regulatory compliance data on the following emissions: particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrochloric acid (HCl), oxides of sulphur (SOx), nitrogen (NOx), regulated heavy metals, chlorinated dioxins/furans, and mercury (Hg);
• Operating protocol for handling different waste compositions that can be used in operator training and to operate the incineration system properly; and
• Information on capital and operating costs, including scale-up parameters.

The firm’s strategy in selecting the technology:

• The key factor in adopting a dioxin control system is to ensure consistent compliance, thereby reducing reliance on adherence to intricate operating protocol and the corresponding high level of operator skill. The particular technology selected also provides a robust control of particulate matter.

Within the selected technology, two features are of particular importance:

1. Dioxin control by destruction as opposed to removal; and
2. Completely dry system.

The former reduces overall dioxin environmental burden, and the latter facilitates operation in remote areas where water is not available. Also, the dry scrubbing effluent can be more “easily” disposed of, compared to a slurry or sludge.

Scientific basis for proposed technical advance:

• While the mechanisms of dioxin formation are complex and subject to speculation, the evidence is clear that dioxins can be present in the gas phase and on the particulate matter. The latter can be captured by a particulate removal device. The former can be absorbed using activated carbon particles, which are subsequently removed from the flue gas as particulate matter. An alternative is dioxin destruction via oxidation to water, carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid.

It has been shown that from a municipal waste incinerator, about 80% of the total dioxins are in the gas-phase, which can be destroyed by catalytic oxidation at about 230 degrees Celcius, where the catalysts are embedded in a Teflon™ based filter media.  Moreover, it has been shown that the catalyst performance remains high after six (6) years of continuous operation.