Design and construction of a rotary kiln simulator for use in studying the incineration of hazardous waste

Rotary kiln systems are widely used in industrial applications to transfer energy from high temperature flames to irregular solids. Recently these systems have been shown to be suitable for the incineration of hazardous solid waste materials and the thermal treatment of contaminated soils. Destruction and removal efficiencies in excess of 99.99% have been reported for hazardous species, but the rate controlling steps of the incineration process are not well understood. This article describes the design, construction, and operation of a laboratory scale simulator which was developed to investigate the fundamentals of hazardous incineration in a rotary kiln environment. This 2 ft×2 ft refractory‐lined kiln allows time‐resolved characterization of contaminant evolution and destruction. Continuous thermal and exhaust concentration measurements are used to characterize the fate of the solid charge as a function of residence time within the kiln. Overall destruction efficiency can be measured by subsequent analysis of the solid phase. The initial performance of this facility has been demonstrated by studying the combustion of waste zirconium metal and by characterizing the thermal clean up of solid sorbent contaminated with toluene. The rotary kiln simulator has been shown suitable for investigation of parameters such as amount of charge, contaminate loading, rotation speed, temperature, excess oxygen, and particle size.