Treatment of flue gas from an infectious waste incinerator using the ozone system

Abstract

Recently, levels of air pollution caused by exhaust gases from infectious waste combustion have been rising at a startling rate. Pollutant gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have numerous health implications when unsafe amounts are released into the atmosphere. Thus, Pollution Control Systems (PCS) and Gas Cleaner Systems (GCS) play an important role in industries and the monitoring of incinerators. This research evaluated the GCS of rotary kilns in medical facilities located in the Northeast of Thailand. Data was collected from various sites, analyzed, and examined. Furthermore, Ozone (O3) technology was applied to the rotary kiln allowing for the collection of new information on the pollution treatment systems. O3 technology was installed along with the Wet Scrubber System (WSS) catalyzing the oxidation of O3 and pollutant gases. In addition, a chiller was added to control and stabilize the temperature of the water. After the water temperature was controlled, the concentration of O3 increased resulting in an efficient pollution treatment system. Levels of pollutant gas emission were found to be beneath control standards of both Thailand and those of the U.S. EPA. TSP content was reduced significantly from 22.0 mg/m³ to 3.4 mg/m³ (97%), CO content from 13.6 mg/m³ to 1.7 mg/m³ (96%), and NO₂ content fell from 16.3 (mg/m³) to 2.0 mg/m³ (99%). It is clear that the rotary kiln and Ozone technology should be used together in order to create a new and far more effective method of pollution treatment in small and mid-sized cities of Thailand.