Heavy Metals From "Energy From Waste" Plants-Comparison of Gas Cleaning Systems

Abstract

Municipal waste incinerators produce more heavy metals calculated per usable energy unit (g MWh-1 ) than other solid fuel fired plants, e.g. coal, peat and wood waste. This paper presents a comparison of some modern proven gas cleaning methods including an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) followed by a scrubber with condensation or an electrostatic scrubber, and a dry scrubbing systems using slurry injection followed by ESP or powder injection followed by fabric filter. The comparison shows that the system with fabric filter has a lower emission of many heavy metals than the other methods.