Non-Chemical Incineration

[4metals]

Most incinerators eliminate the toxins by burning them. Some use an additional wet venturi scrubber but they do it to catch any valuable fly ash.

Medical waste incinerators just use heat to completely reburn the smoke with the right temperature and retention time it is effective.

 

[NobleMetalWorks]

I have incinerated many pounds of circuit boards in my day and I have also burnt in the drums you have just described. But I would never burn circuit boards in the drums. Elastec makes them and they excel for brushes and wheels and flammable materials but without an afterburner I would not burn PCB's in them. http://www.elastec.com/portableincinerators/mediburn/videos/ Too much unburnt fume.

One reason I've lived as long as I have while actively refining is I strongly believe in controlling noxious fumes, they will age you fast! Be smart, use an afterburner at least 1800 F with a 1 second retention time.

I have a burn license in the county I live in, for the most part I am only incinerating plastics or other material that hold values, but are not PCBs. I strip the solder mask off PC boards, then depopulate them, then defoil them all in chemical plating tanks I bought from US Plastics.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=31501

I was using plastic storage containers but they take up so much flat space, and I am limited on the amount of floor space I can use for a chemical stripping tank. Plus the surface area of the tank is reduced, which will cut down on the amount of surface area that can capture dust or other particulates from the air, and they have a snug fitting lid for storage. The only problem I was having is how to retrieve the material stripped from the boards, I solved that issue by making a plastic strainer and plastic welding two arms to it so I can lower it and raise it from the two small ends of the tank.

Scott

Boards that look interesting, like the round test boards I posted awhile back, I totally strip then give to a guy I met who makes cocktail tables out of them. He mounts them, laminates them, and has buyers lined up to purchase them and gives me a percentage of the profit. It's not much but I rather see the material recycled and something made from them rather than incinerating them.

 

[924T]

SBrown,

Did you get your beer keg cyclonic incinerator up and running?

I'm looking at building a very small cyclone incinerator, out of a stainless steel stockpot,
and am curious as to how you determine the angle the air should be 'injected' at.

Or, is the injection angle even much of a factor?

I looked at the pictures page for the Elastec 'SmartAsh' burner, and the first picture is a line drawing
of their product-----------just guessing, but it looks like they're blowing the air in at maybe a 30 degree
angle.

Another question I have is Elastec has some kind of horizontal plate in the exhaust hole of the burner lid.
Does anybody have any idea what function that plate performs?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Geo]

Another question I have is Elastec has some kind of horizontal plate in the exhaust hole of the burner lid.
Does anybody have any idea what function that plate performs.

more than likely, its part of the after burner. the gasses have to be slowed and heated to insure all the combustible gasses and heated carbon oxidizes. its a baffle of sorts.

 

[924T]

Geo,

That makes a ton of sense, about that plate slowing down the gasses.

I had no idea of its purpose; my best guess was that it had something to do with the cyclonic effect.

I wonder how critical the placement of it is?

Would it be considered to be a baffle?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[etack]

reading through this I was wondering if you could put a catalytic converter on top of the furnace for the exhaust?

this would be similar to some wood stoves.

Eric

 

[qst42know]

Catalytic converters are very sensitive to certain contaminants likely to be found in e-scrap (lead for example). I don't think they would last long.

 

[butcher]

The catalytic off an automobile was designed for fairly clean burning engine exhaust, and where the exhaust heats the catalyst to begin with and the reaction of catalyzing the gases creates more heat, the wood stove flue normally would not make the catalyst hot enough to begin the reaction with flue gases, and it would very quickly soot up with creosote, clogging up your flue, which would then fill your house with smoke from the wood stove. As you loose the draft of hot air moving smoke up the stack pulling fresh combustion air into the firebox.

 

[etack]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-burning_stove#Catalytic_and_Non-Catalytic_stoves
https://www.google.com/search?q=Catalytic+smoke+stacks&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=nYpzUOujL8WuqAHj0oCIDQ&ved=0CFEQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=785#hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=buy+wood+stove+catalyst&oq=buy+wood+stove+catalyst&gs_l=img.3...113077.133952.1.134306.24.22.0.2.2.0.197.2581.5j17.22.0...0.0...1c.1.Gusf8EroFl4&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=2312bab0b511f8c7&biw=1600&bih=785

This is not new technology I'm talking about. Its been proven over and over again. what would prevent it from being used here.

The best would be a gasification incinerator. Where the gas/carbons are returned to the flame to heat the material.

Eric

 

[butcher]

The catalyst for a wood stove was made for wood stove.
The catalyst for the automobile was made for the automobile.
Modern wood stoves are designed with exhaust gas re-circulation where a secondary combustion chamber. This mixes exhaust gases with preheated fresh air and thus re-burns the smoke, similar to after burners this cleaner exhaust fumes can the pass through a wood stove catalyst, even this catalyst designed for a wood stove will not last long before it will need replaced, and depending how you use your stove or what type of wood you burn you would be better off taking the darn thing out and throwing it away.

I did not say you could not have a catalyst that would work in a wood stove we have them around here, what I said is the automobile catalytic converter would not work, or would not work very well very long, you might adapt one for a few burns until you filled your house full of smoke.

Why do these stupid environmentalist think wood stoves are polluting, and then let our forest grow up with underbrush till they are a giant kindling box and then the whole country is on fire with these forest fire's filling enough smoke into the air to travel around the globes and then say it is a natural fire let them burn, until they start to burn up their pretty tourist traps which make them money?

 

[etack]

he catalyst for a wood stove was made for wood stove.
The catalyst for the automobile was made for the automobile.

So if this was to be an option than it would have to be a catalyst used for polymers.

thanks for your time Butcher

Eric

 

[Geo]

i suppose a forced air system where the catalytic converter was in the combustion chamber itself might keep the catalyst hot enough to catalyze the CO2. the exhaust would have to leave the combustion chamber and then be forced back through the converter and finally to the exhaust outlet. it could be done using the same principle as the fume hood exhaust either using the venturi effect or a chemical resistant blower. thats a lot of trouble when a simple after burner will do the same thing though.

 

[butcher]

I agree Geo.
All smoke is just incomplete combustion of fuel re-burning will eliminate smoke; NOx fumes are a little different story, as not everything in fuel or air burns.

Lets look at a fuel burning, for fire we need heat fuel and oxygen.
For fuel we will use common fuel of hydrocarbons, and air for oxygen.
The hydrocarbons contain hydrogen and carbon, the hydrogen does not burn, the carbon does.
In air we have mostly nitrogen with a smaller percentage of oxygen, the nitrogen does not burn the oxygen will burn.

So the oxygen and carbon form carbon monoxide (not enough air or incomplete combustion the carbon monoxide is a toxic gas), or if we provide enough air (3% excess air) then carbon and oxygen burn to form the safer carbon dioxide gas CO2.

The Hydrogen from the fuel joins with oxygen (when we supply enough air) to form water vapors in the flue gas or tail pipes of your car.

The nitrogen from the air that will not burn joins with oxygen to form NOx gas, not enough air we form nitrogen monoxide NO, with more air we form nitrogen dioxide NO2, when these gases leave our fire and the flue into the air NO mixes with air to form NO2, then NO2 mixes with moisture in the air to form HNO3 forming acid rain (actually nitric acid rain), exhaust gas re-circulation can help to lower the NOx, and catalyst in the automobile can help to put these back to nitrogen and oxygen.

Higher sulfur content in fuels such as diesel oil or coals, if flue temp is not hot enough the sulfur deposits can form in the flue (I have scrapped elemental yellow sulfur from boiler flues), if flue temperature is high enough the sulfur burns forming sulfur dioxide which when mixed with moisture in the air forms H2SO4 sulfuric acid rain.

After burners can help with smoke but they cannot help with the fumes that would need to be catalyzed or scrubbed to remove their ability to form pollution or acid rain


Proper air to fuel ratio and exhaust gas re-circulation can eliminate most all of the smoke and most of the dangerous pollutants and make the flue gas safer, but it will not eliminate all of the dangers.

Funny thing here but this pollutant we call acid rain, like the nitric acid rain, HNO3/H2O falls to the ground and gives plants the nitrates they need to grow, so in essence the pollutant becomes a fertilizer.

 

[jonn]

Would the Das Escape Inline machine in the for sale section be just what the Dr. ordered? It vacuums fumes, pyrolyzes, oxidizes, reduces and neutralizes. The waste product is said to be clean water at the proper ph. Any thoughts ? :roll:

It works off hydrogen, oxygen, and Lye. The lye looks like it's injected into the bottom port prior to the catch basin. Any solids go into a catch tray as well for easy removal.

Would this be perfect for the job :?: