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Flue Gas Treatment

Energy from Waste facility

The incineration of non-recyclable waste is becoming increasingly widespread in many countries, as authorities seek to reduce the quantity of material being sent to landfill. The incineration of waste is normally combined with the production of electricity, and sometimes renewable heat, and these facilities are referred to as Energy-from-Waste (EfW) or Waste-to-Energy (WtE) sites.

The flue gas produced by this incineration process may contain harmful components, such as heavy metals (typically mercury), dioxins and furans, which need to be removed with powdered activated carbon (PAC) before atmospheric release.

PAC can also be used for treating flue gas streams in coal-fired power stations (LCP) and in steel production & recycling facilities.

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is considered the best available technology for the removal of mercury and furans, as well as for efficient dioxin removal from flue gas in treatment (scrubber) systems. CPL’s FiltraCarb® FGT® range, manufactured in the UK, is a market leading product, widely used in the EfW sector. The new European BREF requirements (Best Available Techniques Reference) came into effect in December 2023, and place much stricter emissions limits on mercury, dioxin and furans, as well as other contaminants such as ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These new BREF regulation are likely to result in an upturn in PAC usage within the EfW sector, as operators modify their processes to meet these new emissions limits.

Incinerators typically fall into one of four types:
– Municipal EfW facilities, treating non-recyclable ‘black bag’ waste, and sometimes commercial & industrial (C&I) waste too.
– Biomass incinerators, typically treating waste/virgin wood, straw and paper.
– Medical waste incinerators, typically located at major hospitals
– Hazardous waste incinerators, operated by highly specialised firms.


CPL Activated Carbons supplies a range of powdered activated carbon products, and related site services, for the flue gas treatment sector.

The protection of the environment is one of the fundamental, overriding drivers of the activated carbon industry, so it is no surprise that our products and services are widely used in the treatment of waste streams, to reduce the environmental impact of these processes. The incineration of municipal and industrial waste, at energy-from-waste (EfW or WtE) facilities, is becoming an increasingly significant treatment solution for non-recyclable waste, since it represents a better alternative to the landfilling of waste. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is used in the flue gas treatment systems of these EfW facilities to remove traces of dioxins, furans (so-called persistent organic pollutants, POPs) and heavy metals such as mercury. CPL Activated Carbons’ Filtracarb® FGT® range is recognised as the industry standard for flue gas treatment at EfW facilities, and we are a leading supplier of PAC materials into the flue gas sector.

For the specialised incineration of medical waste, which may contain higher levels of mercury than standard municipal waste, we offer a PAC product impregnated with specific chemicals to boost the performance of the flue gas treatment system. Filtracarb® IPK-J is the grade we offer for this specialised flue gas application.

Aside from the incineration of waste, activated carbons find use in other areas of this industry, typically for odour control systems in waste handling/reception buildings and at IVC (in-vessel composting) facilities.

The decomposition of waste at biogas facilities is also a potential source of nuisance odours, for which carbon filters are often the most convenient and cost-effective treatment solution, in addition to the purification of the biogas stream itself.


Our Site Services team are on hand to assist with the installation of your mobile carbon filter as well as removal/changeout when the carbon filter is spent.

Bulk tanker delivery of FIltracarb® FGT® at an energy-from-waste (EfW) facility - Photo: D. Reay, CPL

For the abatement of VOCs and general air treatment, a standard extruded carbon pellet is usually selected. This can either be a virgin/new grade, such as Filtracarb® EX64, or our UK-made regenerated grade called EXR4, which offers considerable savings in terms of cost and carbon footprint.

For the removal of sulfur-based nuisance odours, various impregnated carbons are available from CPL, including Filtracarb® SA70 and SA78. Our experienced commercial team can advise on the best solution for your particular process flow and treatment objective.

In addition to the supply of carbons and the regeneration of spent adsorbents at our state-of-the-art reactivation facility, CPL Activated Carbons can also supply a range of gas-phase VOCSorber® filters for odour control and air treatment applications. Typically these are supplied on a rental basis, in sizes ranging from 2m3 through to 30m3

 

Carbons

– FiltraCarb® FGT® range is the industry standard for flue gas treatment in municipal EfW facilities. It is available in various activity levels and in bulk tankers or 25kg sacks or 500kg big bags.
– For medical waste incineration and hazardous waste incineration, we offer a premium double-impregnated PAC called FiltraCarb® IPK-J (also know as FiltraCarb® FGT® Extra), able to deal effectively with the extra challenges of this application.  An increasing number of municipal EfW sites are switching to this premium grade, following the EU BREF requirements for tighter mercury emissions limits. EfW (Energy-from-waste) facility in the UK, using Filtracar FGT for flue gas treatment. Photo D. Reay CPL

Services

– Delivery in bulk tanker, sacks or big bags.
– Site Services, including carbon installation.

Related Applications

Air & Gas Purification

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