A large number of other kinds of incineration plants exist in addition to municipal waste incineration plants and cement works. The nature of the combustion technology and waste gas cleaning treatment is tailored to the properties of the waste and the impurities it contains.
Several companies in Switzerland have incineration plants for hazardous waste, which originate from the company's own or external sources. Solid, paste-like, liquid and gaseous wastes are incinerated in rotary kilns. Static kilns are also suitable for the incineration of solvents and other liquid wastes. The special incineration conditions ensure that halogenated pollutants like PCBs and dioxins are destroyed safely. Extended flue-gas cleaning ensures that other pollutants like mercury and salts do not enter the atmosphere. The heat from wastes with a high calorific value is used to generate electricity or steam.
Large volumes of waste (e.g. from the rehabilitation of contaminated sites) have to be treated in waste treatment plants abroad.
Fluidised bed technology is suitable for the thermal treatment of sludge-like waste like sewage sludge and residues from the processing of waste paper. Plants, that mainly incinerate municipal sewage sludge are usually state-owned, either completely or in part, while plants that process sludges from industrial wastewater treatment tend to be privately operated.
Plants which are designed to generate energy from waste wood generally use grate-firing or fluidised bed technology. The air pollution control requirements depend on the nature of the waste wood used. A distinction is made here between natural, untreated wood, scrap wood from joineries and carpentry workshops, waste wood from the demolition of buildings, furniture, packaging and problematic waste wood, which is intensively treated with wood protection agents (e. g. railway sleepers) or coated with halogen-organic compounds like PVC.
Last modification 11.07.2019
