Removal efficiencies of PCDDs/PCDFs by air pollution control devices in municipal solid waste incinerators

Removal efficiencies of polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) by air pollution control devices (APCDs) in the commercial-scale municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators with a capacity of above 200 ton/day were evaluated. The removal efficiencies of PCDDs/PCDFs were up to 95% when the activated carbon (AC) was injected in front of electrostatic precipitator (EP). Spray dryer absorber/bag filter (SDA/BF) had high removal efficiency (99%) of PCDDs/PCDFs when a mixture of lime and AC was sprayed into the SDA. When the AC was not added in scrubbing solution, the whole congeners of PCDDs/PCDFs were enriched in the wet scrubber (WS) with negative removal efficiencies of −25% to −5731%. Discharge of PCDDs/PCDFs was decreased with increasing the proportions of AC added in scrubbing solution. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system had the removal efficiencies of up to 93% during the test operation.