MODEL TO ASSESS HEAVY-METAL EMISSION FROM MUNICIPAL SOLID-WASTE INCINERATION

Incineration is an effective way of treating municipal solid wastes; h owever, the emission of toxic metal compounds is an issue of concern. An algorithm has been developed to relate waste feed and incineration operating parameters to the ultimate exposure to metallic emissions. T he different aspects considered are waste characteristics, operating c onditions of the incinerator, operating conditions of the pollution co ntrol devices, atmospheric dispersion and exposure to these metallic e missions. The model predictions are validated by comparison to data re ported in the literature. The model is also applied to mass burn and R DF incinerators to compare relative exposures of metallic emissions. S ensitivity analyses are performed to determine the effect of various p arameters.