THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSOR AND AN ANALYZER FOR ON-LINE HCI ANALYSIS OF WASTE INCINERATOR FLUE GAS.

INDUSTRIAL AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INCINERATORS CAN EMIT HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF NO(X), SO(2), HC1, AND OTHER SPECIES DEPENDING ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE SOLID WASTE BEING PROCESSED. THE EFFICIENT CONTROL OF THESE PROCESSES REQUIRES THE REAL TIME ON-LINE MEASUREMENT OF EFFLUENT GASES TO MONITOR THE PROCESS AND TO PERMIT FEEDBACK CONTROL OF THE WASTE FEED COMPOSITION, THE COMBUSTION PROCESS, AND THE DOWNSTREAM SCRUBBER SYSTEMS. ANALYSIS OF HC1 PRESENTS UNUSUAL PROBLEMS FOR EXTRACTIVE ANALYZERS BECAUSE OF CORROSION IN THE SAMPLING SYSTEM AND LINES AND THE REQUIREMENT THAT WATER REMOVAL SHOULD NOT ALTER THE HC1 CONCENTRATION. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES DURABLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS SYSTEMS FOR O(2) AND CO, AND IMPROVED SYSTEMS ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR SO(2) AND NO(X). THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A SIMPLE AND DURABLE ANALYZER SYSTEM FOR ON-LINE MEASUREMENT OF HC1 IN THE HARSH ENVIRONMENT OF COMBUSTION FLUE GAS. PHASE I ADDRESSESTHE DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTIVE ADSORBENTS FOR HC1 AND WILL EVALUATE THE INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER FLUE GAS CONSTITUENTS SUCH AS CO(2), AND H(2)O. THE INITIAL OBJECTIVE WILL BE MEASUREMENT OF HC1 IN THE CONCENTRATION RANGE OF 10 TO 200 PPM USING CLOSE-COUPLED EXTRACTIVE TYPE ANALYZERS. PHASES II AND III WILL BE DIRECTED AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MASS-SENSITIVE TRANSDUCER AND ANALYZER SYSTEM AS WELL AS EXTENSIVE FIELD TESTING TO ESTABLISH DURABILITY, LIFE, AND STABILITY IN THE HARSH ENVIRONMENT OF WASTE INCINERATOR FLUE GAS.