Dioxin and Furan Emissions from Municipal Refuse Derived Fuel(RDF) Combustion

Lee, Tae-Jin; Lee, Yong-Kuk; Williamson, Kenneth J.

Environmental Engineering Research 1996;1(1): 63-71.

Tae-Jin Lee^†, Yong-Kuk Lee, and Kenneth J. Williamson

¹Environmental & Energy Research Team, POSCO Technical Research Laboratories
²Department of Civil Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-2302

Corresponding Author: Tae-Jin Lee ,

Received: September 19, 1995; Accepted: November 21, 1995.

ABSTRACT

The use of municipal refuse as fuels has received widespread attention due to its energy equiva¬lence and the increasing lack of available landfill sites. The principal obstacle to the construction of combus¬tion facilities is that refuse derived fuel(RDF) produces toxic materials including organic compounds such as polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins(PCDD) and polychlorodibenzo-p-furans(PCDF). In this study, the emissions of the organic compounds were investigated under oxygen deficient and oxygen surplus conditions for the RDF and such high volume contributors as office papers and magazines. The combustion of the RDF produced a full range of PCDD and PCDF. Paper products and even untreated wood combustion effluents were the source of PCDD/PCDF emissions in the parts-per-billion(ppb) range. Emission rates were higher under oxy¬gen surplus condition(110 %) than under the oxygen deficient condition(70 % or 90 %). PCDD/PCDF emis¬sions were not significant in relation to the fuel type as was the case for the large volume contributors.

Keywords: Municipal Solid Waste | PCDD | PCDF | Combustion