Variability of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions continuously measured in solid waste incinerators

Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide were continuously measured and variability of emission factors (EFs) was evaluated in five municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) and four industrial waste incinerators (IWIs) from 24 to 86 days between 2008 and 2011. N 2 O EFs were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation and mean N 2 O EFs were 7.1, 107, 127, 219 g N 2 O/ton waste combusted in MWIs with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for NOx control, MWIs with selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR), IWIs with SNCR, and a MWI using fluidized bed with SNCR, respectively. Climate-relevant CO 2 EFs ranged from 0.45 to 0.72 ton CO 2 /ton waste combusted in MWIs. Maximum values of upper limit for 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of N 2 O EFs estimated in each MWIs with SCR, MWIs with SNCR, IWIs with SNCR were 185, 94, 101% of mean N 2 O EFs, respectively. Meanwhile, maximum values of upper limit for 95% CIs of CO 2 EFs were much lower as between 18 and 36% in those facilities. 84% CIs of mean N 2 O EFs in MWIs with SNCR and IWIs with SNCR were overlapped indicating those values are not significantly different.