Prediction of dioxin/furan incinerator emissions using low-molecular/weight volatile products of incomplete combustion

Emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-P-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzof urans (PCDDs/Fs) from incinerators and other stationary combustion sources are of environmental concern because of the toxicity of certain PCDD/F cong eners. Measurement of trace levels of PCDDs/Fs in combustor emissions is no t a trivial matter. Development of one or more simple, easy-to-measure, rel iable indicators of stack PCDD/F concentrations not only would enable incin erator operators to economically optimize system performance with respect t o PCDD/F emissions, but could also provide a potential technique for demons trating compliance status on a more frequent basis. This paper focuses on o ne approach to empirically estimate PCDD/F emissions using easy-to-measure volatile organic C-2 chlorinated alkene precursors coupled with flue gas cl eaning parameters. Three data sets from pilot-scale incineration experiment s were examined for correlations between C-2 chlorinated alkenes and PCDDs/ Fs. Each data set contained one or more C-2 chloroalkenes that were able to account for a statistically significant fraction of the variance in PCDD/F emissions. Variations in the vinyl chloride concentrations were able to ac count for the variations in the PCDD/F concentrations strongly in two of th e three data sets and weakly In one of the data sets.