Incinerator improvements

Abstract: An incinerator system includes a main chamber (32), double reburn tunnels (41, 42), an excitor (134) within a reburn tunnel, a grate (234) near the incinerator's inlet (231) to permit the drying and initial combustion of refuse, and an ash scoop (278). The grate (234) placed at the main combustion chamber's entrance and above the incinerator's floor (33) permits the retention of newly introduced refuse for a brief period of time. During this time, the refuse may dry, loose its volatile hydrocarbons, and then drop through to the main chamber's floor and undergo its usual combustion. For very high Btu waste, the grate permits the initial, very hot burning to occur away from the incinerator floor to prevent slagging. A fluid may pass through the grate to keep it from overheating. In particular, air may enter the main incinerator chamber through nozzles (355) placed on the grate to both cool the grate and support combustion.

Description: John N. Basic, Sr., in his U. S. Patents 4,438,705 issued on March 27, 1984, and 4,516,510 issued on May 14, 1985, both entitled "Incinerator with Two Reburn Stages and, Optionally, Heat Recovery", provided an incinerator system and techniques that very significantly advanced the art of incinerating refuse. The disclosures provided equipment and methods for taking waste of vastly different descriptions, heat contents, and wetness and, within one type of equipment, incinerating them in an environmentally acceptable manner. These disclosures merit a careful understanding and are incorporated by reference. Not only do Basic's two patents provide a complete incinerator system for burning refuse in bulk or hydrocarbon liquids, they also provide equipment and techniques for incinerating hydrocarbon-containing fumes from sources which may produce them. Again, they accomplish this result without substantial deleterious effect upon the environment. The burning of refuse by means of an incinerator system of the above type starts with the placing of the refuse through an inlet opening into a main incinerator chamber. There, the bulk refuse burns to produce gaseous combustion products. These combustion products pass out of the main combustion chamber through an outlet opening and directly into an inlet opening of the reburn unit. An improved burning may result for particular types of refuse where the main incinerator chamber has a grate device located above the floor of the main chamber in close proximity to the inlet opening. The grate device should hold the refuse for a limited period of time after its introduction through the inlet opening. Subsequently, the grate device allows the refuse to drop through, while continuing to burn, to the floor of the main chamber. The use of an auxiliary grate of this fashion may prove propitious for various types of refuse including material having a large content of moisture or with a large amount of high heat content combustibles. In the former instance, the retention of the refuse for a brief period of time on the grate allows it to dry before it drops to the chamber floor. Otherwise, maintaining the fire in the desired condition might prove more difficult. With the high heat content refuse, maintaining it on the grate allows a portion of it to volitalize and begin to burn at relatively high temperatures. When the remainder drops through the grate, it has a lower temperature and thus would have less of a propensity to induce slagging on the chamber floor. The present invention relates to an incinerator system which incorporates a cooling device to reduce the temperature of the grate. An incinerator system is shown in US-A-4414904 in which combustion air is supplied to a grate. The effect of this air supply arrangement is that the combustion air assists in cooling the grate. If, however, it is designed to reduce the volume of air which is supplied to the combustion chamber this can only be accomplished by reducing the volume of air which flows through the grate and accordingly reducing the cooling effect of the air flowing through the grate. The invention, starting from the preamble of claim 1, is characterised in that there is at least one exit from the air pasageways leading to the exterior of the main chamber, through which air may leave the air passageways so that the volume of air flowing through the air passageways at entry thereof is greater than the total volume of air flowing through the nozzles. With an embodiment of the invention the volume of air which flows through the air passageways of the grate is not limited to the air which is supplied to the combustion chamber and accordingly if necessary a larger volume of air can be passed through the grate than is delivered to the combustion chamber. FIGURE 1 gives a perspective view of an incinerator system installation. FIGURE 2 gives an isometric view, partially in section, of an incinerator main chamber having a grate in the vicinity of the inlet opening to the chamber but located above the chamber's floor. FIGURE 3 displays an end view, in cross section, of the incinerator chamber of FIGURE 2. FIGURE 4 shows an air grate having hollow passageways through which air travels prior to entering the combustion chamber through attached nozzles. FIGURE 5 gives a cross sectional view along the line 26-26 of the air grate of FIGURE 4. FIGURE 6 gives a cross sectional view along the line 27-27 of the air grate of FIGURE 4. FIGURE 7 shows a tapered, cantilevered grate through which air passes to cool itself and support combustion. FIGURE 8 provides a cross sectional view along the line 29-29 of the air grate of FIGURE 7. FIGURE 9 provides a cross sectional view along the line 30-30 of the air grate of FIGURE 7. FIGURE 10 gives a top plan view of a cantilevered, air grate having a return tube located inside the passageways through which the air travels prior to entering the combustion chamber. FIGURE 11 gives a cross sectional view along the line 32-32 of the air grate of FIGURE 10. FIGURE 12 Shows an air grate having cross-linked arms and permitting the control of the amount and direction of the flow of air to provide the desired quantity of air flow in the combustion chamber itself. FIGURE 13 provides a cross sectional view along the line 34-34 of the air grate of FIGURE 12. FIGURE 14 gives a cross sectional, condensed view along the line 35-35 of the air grate of FIGURE 12. FIGURE 15 gives an isometric view of an air grate which can move to dislodge burning refuse. FIGURE 16 provides a cross sectional view along the line 36a-36a of the air grate of FIGURE 15 showing the pivoting connection of one side of the grate. FIGURE 17 gives a side elevational view of an air bag system for providing motion to the side of the air grate of FIGURE 15 not having the pivoting connection of FIGURE 16. FIGURE 18 gives an isometric view of a cantilevered air grate in which the individual portions have a cross sectional shape of a diamond to accomplish wedging of the burning refuse. FIGURE 19 provides a cross sectional view along the line 38-38 of a portion of the air grate of FIGURE 18. FIGURE 1 shows an incinerator system generally at 30. Bulk refuse or hydrocarbon-containing liquids enters the incinerator 30 through the loader 31 and enters the main chamber 32. During most of its stay in the incinerator 30, solid refuse remains upon the pulsating hearth floors 33 and 34. Upon the completion of combustion, the remaining ash falls into the pit 35 where the removal mechanism designated generally at 36 lifts it and places it in the truck 37. The door 38 permits access to the interior of the main chamber 32 for the usual maintenance. The gases produced by the combustion within the main chamber pass through the dual reburn tunnels 41 and 42 and through the further treating, recirculation, and heat removal stages 43. They eventually leave through the stack 44. Heat recovered from the incinerator system 30 may pass into the pipe 45. The initial combustion of the refuse, of course, takes place in the main chamber 32 as seen in Figures 2 and 3. The screw feeders 230 may assist in the introduction of particulate refuse such as rice hulls. More typically, bulk refuse enters through the opening 231 in the forewall 232. In any event, the bulk refuse entering the incinerator 32 sits upon the grate generally at 234. It will rest there briefly to permit combustion to commence. If the refuse has a high moisture content, it may undergo drying while it rests upon the grate 234 to permit its more facile subsequent burning. If, upon entering, it immediatedly sat upon the hearth 433, it would experience greater difficulty in drying in order to undergo subsequent combustion. Alternatively, a very high heat content material such as plastics may burn at very high temperatures. If this occurred on the floor 33, the uneven heating could cause slagging of the floor itself. Thus, the refuse sits upon the grate 234, for a limited period of time. However, the majority of the fixed hydrocarbons within the material should remain unburned when the refuse slips through or off the grate 234 and onto the floor 33. The volatile hydrocarbon content may well have, by this time, already entered the gas stream. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the grate 234, to permit the refuse to fall to the floor 33, will include the holes 235 passing through it. The size of the openings of the holes 235 generally lies in the range of 305 to 457 mm (12 to 18 inches). This permits most types of refuse to fall through to the floor prior to the burning of the majority of the fixed hydrocarbons. The grate 234, of course, exists in the heated and corrosive environment of the main chamber 32. Thus, it should generally have some mechanism for cooling it to prevent its destruction by heat or corrosion. To effectuate this result, the grate 234 includes the hollow longitudinal pipes 236 and 237 and the cross pipes 238. The pipe 236 has the couplings 239 and 240 while the pipe 237 includes the couplings 241 and 242. This permits the passage through it of a fluid which will effectuate the cooling of the grate 234. The fluid thus introduced may take the form of air, water, steam or oil. Additionally, the pipes 236 to 238 of the grate 234 will have a refractory coating to provide further heat protection. Lastly, a wear surface composed typically of face hardened refractory will help protect the grate 234 from abrasion due to the refuse placed upon it. An air grate in accordance with the present invention is shown generally at 349 in FIGURE 4 and includes the plenum 350 the top of which also forms a shelf for incoming refuse. The actual wall of the incinerator occurs along the dashed line 351. The plenum 350 receives a supply of air under pressure through the inlet 352. Some of the air may depart the plenum through the nozzles 353, but most of it goes into the hollow grate bars 354 of the grate. From there it travels until it reaches the nozzles 355 which allow it to enter the main chamber to provide oxygen for the combustion occurring there. Naturally, when refuse sits upon the bars 354, the air departing the nozzles 355 actually enters the combustion occurring there from below. Additionally, some air from the grate bars 354 will enter the cross bar 359 and depart through the nozzles 360 to further support combustion. The actual structure of the grate bars 354 appears in the cross sectional views of FIGURES 5 and 6. As seen there, the bars 354 include the metal tube 363 which provides a channel for the passage of air. The moving air serves to cool the tube 363 and thus the bars 354. Additionally, the refractory 364 also helps to keep the heat off the metal tubes 363. Additionally, the refractory 364 may include an abrasion-resistant coating, at least along the top, to prevent damage from refuse placed on the grate 349. Further, the cross-sectional views of FIGURES 5 and 6 show a staggered configuration of the nozzles 355. Thus in FIGURE 5 , the grate bar 354 has one nozzle 355 on the left and two nozzles 355 on the right. The opposite occurs in FIGURE 6. The staggered configuration helps provide a more even distribution of the air leaving the grate 350 into the incinerator chamber. The air grate 349 in FIGURE 4 also shows several devices for controlling the amount of air passing through the nozzles 353, 355, and 360 into the incinerator chamber. Initially, of course, the pressure developed by the blower providing air along the inlet 352 may be controlled for this purpose. The outlets 370 connect to the plenum 350 and allow for the egress of air from it. This could find usefulness where the plenum 350 requires a large amount of air to keep it sufficiently cool. Yet that amount of air might introduce excessive air into the grate bars 354. Partially opening the outlets 370 permits the passage of air through them and thus the reduction in air pressure throughout the grate 349. Additionally, the guillotine dampers 371 each has a variable orifice that can also permit air to pass through the pipes 372 to the exterior of the main combustion chamber. This permits air to pass all the way through the grate 349 to keep it sufficiently cool but diverts some of the air away from entering the main combustion chamber. This too can avoid the undesired condition of excessive air there. The release of air, however, through the outlets 370 and through the dampers 371 should not, however, deprive the main incinerator chamber of sufficient air for combustion. Typically, the air grate 349 itself may provide at least about 40 percent of the air for the main chamber. Furthermore, the amount of the air entering through the inlet 354 which departs though the outlets 370 and through the dampers 371 may change during the course of the incineration of a load of reuse. Thus, in the case of a fresh charge of refuse, the amount of air passing out through the nozzles 355 may start out low with a greater portion departing through the outlets 370 and through the dampers 371. This will permit the initiation of the combustion of the refuse. As the refuse begins to burn and releases hydrocarbons, the dampers 371 and the outlets 370 may close in part to provide greater air through the nozzles 355 because of the increased requirement for oxygen to support the combustion of the released hydrocarbons. Alternately or separately, very wet material placed upon the grate 349 may require additional air at the beginning to aerate the refuse and effectuate some drying. After a while, upon the accomplishment of this task, the burning mass will require less air from the nozzles. At this point, the amount of air should be controlled to achieve this objective. In summary, the amount of air introduced through the nozzles 355 may be fine tuned to suit the needs of the fire for the particular refuse introduced into the incinerator. FIGURE 4 also shows that the bars 354 meet the cross bar 359 at the expansion joints 375 and 376. As the grate 349 heats and cools, the bars 354, at the joints 375 and 376, may move further into or extract slightly out of the cross bar 359. To permit this relative motion between the grate bars 354 and the cross bar 359 without damaging the refractory, the joints 375 and 376 include the high temperature fibrous insulation plugs 377 and 378 respectively. These insulation plugs 377 and 378 can experience expansion and contraction without damaging themselves or the refractory 364 in the proximate areas. The similar fiberous insulation plugs 381 and 382 may occur around the pipe 372 where it meets the wall of the combustion chamber indicated by the dashed lines 383 and 384. Several companies provide suitable high temperature fiberous insulation including A. P. Green Industries, Inc., of Mexico, Missouri, which sells the product under the mark Inswool Blanket, as well as Thermal Ceramics, Inc., which sells it as Kao-wool. In FIGURE 7 appears the cantilevered air grate indicated generally at 389 finding particular use for a large incinerator. As seen there, the grate bars 390 and 391 have the extensions 392 and 393, respectively, extending well beyond the incinerator wall, indicated diagrammatically by the dashed line 396, to the outside of the incinerator. The grate bars 390 and 391 may each have a length of about 20 feet for use in the large incinerator. They receive support in the area of the plenum 397. The extensions 392 and 393 simply provide counterbalancing lever arms for the cantilevered grate bars 390 and 391. The blower 395 introduces air under pressure into the arm extensions 392 and 393. From there it goes to the plenum 397. Some of the air from the plenum enters directly into the main incinerator chamber through the nozzles 398. Other air enters the grate arms 390 and 391 and departs through the nozzles 399 shown in FIGURE 8. Some of the air may pass through openings at the very ends of the grate arms 390 and 391. The air passing through the plenum 397 and the grate bars 390 and 391 helps to keep them cool. It also warms the air which, when introduced into the main chamber through the nozzles 398 and 399, retains the heat within the incinerator system. The refuse enters the incinerator of FIGURE 7 from the right and passes onto the shelf of the plenum 397 and then onto the grate arms 390 and 391. The first portion of the grate arms it contacts appears in FIGURE 8. As seen there, the grate arms 390 and 391 include the metal tubes 402 through which the air travels prior to passing through the nozzles 399 into the combustion chamber. The refractory 403 protects the metal tubes 402. Additionally, the top corners 405 have been rounded off. This helps to prevent refuse catching on top of the grate arms 390 and 391; rather, the rounded edge allows it to fall in the openings between the grate arms 390 and 391 onto the grate or hearth floor below. The section 406 of the grate arms 390 and 391 which the refuse may encounter further on in the incinerator chamber have the tapered sides 407. The garbage which passes over the rounded tops 406 will not likely wedge against the sides 407 since the opening between them gets larger going downward. This construction has the purpose of preventing refuse from lodging and hanging up rather than falling to the floor below. FIGURE 9 shows the tapering of the metal tubes 402 with the covering refractory 408 having a uniform thickness around them. As an alternative, the tubes could have a square configuration as shown in FIGURE 8 with the refractory tapered and having a smaller width at the bottom to achieve the same overall configuration. Further, both the tubes 402 as well as the refratory 408 may taper toward the bottom to provide greater assurance that refuse will not hang up on the grate 398. FIGURE 10 shows a further cantilevered air grate generally at 413. Similar to the grate 389 shown in FIGURE 7, the grate 413 in FIGURE 10 has the cantilevered grate arms 414 and 415. However, because of the shorter lengths of the grate arms 414 and 415, it has no extension arms on the other side of the shelf 416 on the top of the plenum 417. Air for the plenum 417 enters through the inlets 418 and can pass directly through the nozzles 419 into the combustion chamber or into the grate arms 414 and 415 and through their nozzles 420. FIGURE 11 gives a cross sectional view of the grate arm 415 along the line 32-32 of FIGURE 10 which slices through two nozzles 420 on its sides. As indicated in FIGURE 11, the nozzles also have a staggering configuration with a subsequent nozzle on the bottom. This again helps induce superior mixing and avoids hot spots which can lead to slagging. As before, the grate arm 415 has the metal tube 424 through which the air passes. The metal tube 424 in turn has the refractory coating 425 for its protection from the heat. The rounded corners 426 at the top again help prevent catching the burning refuse on top and allow it to fall to the floor below. The discussion above with regards to FIGURES 4 pointed out that an excess air could flow through the air grate 349 and in particular through the grate arms 354 to effectuate their cooling. This excess air would then pass through the cross bar 359 and out through the dampeners 371 and the pipes 372. This excess air would not enter the main combustion chamber where it could provide too much oxygen. It simply passes back outside of the combustion chamber to carry away heat that could otherwise have a destructive effect upon the grate arms 354. In FIGURE 10, however, no cross bar attaches to the cantilevered grate arms 414 and 415 at their distal ends 428 and 429 located away from the plenum 416. Thus, the excess air that might be required to cool the grate arms 414 and 415 cannot pass to the outside of the inner incinerator without entering the main combustion chamber since the distal ends 428 and 429 of the grate arms 414 and 415 do not have a cross bar and do not directly connect to the outside. This, of course, results from the fact that the grate arms 414 and 415 have a cantilevered structure; in other words, the distal ends 427 and 428 do not have support or any other connection to the exterior of the incinerator. Accordingly, as seen in FIGURE 11 , the return tube 430 sits inside of the main metal air tube 424. The return tube 430 sits upon the legs 431 and permits the passage of air from the grate arms 414 and 415 to the exterior of the incinerator chamber through the proximal ends 433 and 434. Valves placed on the ends 433 and 434 determine how much of the air may escape from the grate arms 414 and 415 directly to the atmosphere without passing to the main combustion chamber and how much will enter the combustion chamber in order to support combustion. As seen in FIGURE 10, the return tubes have the openings 434 to permit the entry of air from the main air tube 424 so that it may pass out the proximal ends 433 and 434 to the atmosphere. FIGURE 12, similar to the air grate 349 in FIGURE 4, includes the initial bars 442 coupled to the front end bar 443. Air may enter the front and bar 443 through either or both of its ends 444 and 445. The air can then travel along the grate bars 446 to the cross bar 447. Then it travels out either or both of the cross bar ends 448 and 449. In fact, air may enter or depart through any of the ends 444, 445, 448, or 449. Selecting the ends through which to introduce air and through which air may depart allows the control of the amount of air passing both through the air grate 441 and one or more of the ends 444, 445, 448, and 449 without entering the main combustion chamber. It also results in the separate control of the amount of air passing from the air grate 441 through the nozzles 451 and into the combustion chamber. Seen in FIGURE 13, the nozzles 451 on the front end bar 443 have the usual staggered configuration sending'air in all directions. However, the cross bar 449 has nozzles, as seen in FIGURE 13, which only point backwards or downwards. This is to keep the air within the general vicinity of the air grate 441 upon which the garbage sits. As seen in FIGURE 12, the garbage enters from the top, or upon the initial bars 442. If it travels beyond the cross bar 447, it will clearly fall to the floor below. It will then receive its oxygen from the floor. Air introduced from the cross bar 447 should generally go in the direction in which it will contribute to the combustion of the garbage sitting on the grate 441. This can only be in the direction of the interior of the grate 441 itself. Similar considerations apply to the nozzles 451 of the grate bars 446 as seen in FIGURE 14. The orientation of the nozzles tend to introduce air towards the middle of the grate as opposed towards the outside. The portion of the air grate indicated generally at 463 in FIGURE 13 appears similar to the air grate 441 of FIGURES 12 to 14 . However, the air grate 463 includes provisions to allow for moving it to dislodge and move refuse placed upon it. Refuse enters through the opening 464 and moves across the initial bar 465 to the plenum bar 466 which, of course, would have a protective refractory covering. The refuse then travels to the grate bars 469 and possibly as far as the cross bar 470. To provide for motion, the plenum bar 466 attaches to the stem 473 which couples through the wall of the furnace to the air bag 475. Introducing air under pressure into the air bag 475 through the conduit 476 and, subsequently, allowing that air to move back out of the air bag 475 inflates and deflates the air bag 475. This in turn causes the stem 43 and the plenum bar 466 to move up and down to jostle the refuse and cause it to move either further down toward the cross bar 470 or even preferable fall through the grate 463 onto the floor below where it may continue to burn. The cross bar 470, to permit motion of the grate 463, rides on the three rollers 479 which permit it to rotate slightly as the plenum bar 466 moves up and down, Other types of motion might, in various circumstances, provide for more efficient movement of the refuse on the grate. Thus, the grate could achieve arcuate motion similar to that seen in U. S. Patents 4,706,578 and 4,475,469 John N. Basic, Sr., for incinerator hearth floors. Lastly, in FIGURE 18 appears the air grate indicated generally at 485. It includes the plenum bar 486 and the grate bars 487. As seen in FIGURE 19, the grate bars 487 have a diamond cross-sectional configuration. This actually allows for the wedging of refuse upon the upper surfaces 488 between the two grate bars 487. This finds use where the nature of the refuse placed upon the air grate 485 should cause it to linger longer upon the grate 485 before falling to the floor below. Also, as seen in FIGURE 18, the plenum bar 486 attaches to the main chamber fore wall 490 and the side walls 491. It does so in the manner that the grate bars 487 lie parallel to the steps 492 of the hearth floor 493. The floor 493 has the same shape and orientation as the hearth floors seen in all Basic's patents discussed above. As seen in all of this, the floor 493, its steps 492, and also the grate bars 487 all lie generally parallel to the horizon. This supports the refuse until it can fall through the space 495 between the grate bars 487. The floor 33 of FIGURE 1 may assume a number of forms. A particular and advanced type of the pulsed hearth floor appears in Basic's United States Patent 4,475,469 mentioned above. Other types of floors may work also, displaying various degrees of desirability.

Claims: An incinerator system for bulk refuse and hydrocarbon-containing liquids comprising: an enclosed main chamber (32) having a fire-resistant floor (33,34) for holding and burning material thereon; an inlet opening (231) for the introduction of solid bulk refuse, an outlet opening for the egress of the gaseous products of combustion from said main chamber; a grate (234) having openings (235) therethrough and located within the main chamber, adjacent to the inlet opening and above the floor, for receiving refuse newly introduced through the inlet opening above the floor for a limited period of time and then allowing the refuse to drop through to the floor while burning; air passageways (350,363) extending through said grate; nozzles (353,355,360) connected to the air passageways for communicating combustion air from the air passageways to the main chamber; and means for supplying air under pressure to the air passageways for flow through the air passageways to the nozzles to cool the grate; characterised in that there is at least one exit (370,371) from the air passageways leading to the exterior of the main chamber, through which air may leave the air passageways so that the volume of air flowing through the air passageways at entry thereof is greater than the total volume of air flowing through the nozzles. An incinerator according to claim 1 characterised in that control means are provided for controlling the air pressure within the air passageways and thereby controlling the volume of air flowing through the nozzles. An incinerator according to claim 2 characterised in that means for supplying air under pressure is a blower, and the control means comprises means for controlling the pressure developed by the blower. An incinerator according to claim 2 or claim 3 characterised in that the control means comprises means for varying the flow area of the at least one exit. An incinerator according to claim 4 characterised in that there are several exits and the flow areas of at least two separate exits are variable. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the means for supplying air under pressure and the control means are such that at least 40% of the combustion air supplied to the main chamber is supplied through the air passageways and the nozzles. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that means are provided for moving the grate in the main chamber. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the grate arms have first and second hollow air passageways passing therethrough, said second hollow passageways being located within said first passageways and the air passing through said second passageways in a direction opposite to that in which it passes through said first passageways. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the nozzles have a staggered configuration along the grate. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the floor is in the form of a second grate which is mounted for movement relative to the main chamber. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the grate has openings passing therethrough of a size of about 305mm to 457mm (12 inches to 18 inches). An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the grate is generally horizontal. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that refractory material is placed upon said grate. An incinerator according to any preceding claim characterised in that the grate is formed by a network of intercommunicating hollow metal tubes covered with refractory material.

Inventors: BASIC JOHN N SR, BASIC, JOHN N. SR.
Applicants: BASIC J N SEN, BASIC, JOHN N. SR.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: F23G5
IPC codes: F23G5, F23J1, F23H3, F23H1, F23M5, F23H17, F23C1