RE: Terms used in incineration

["Ede, Sharon (DEHAA)" <SEde@dehaa.sa.gov.au>]

Hi, I am an Environmental Planner with the South Australian Environment
Protection Agency, and I am new to this list. 

There is currently a proposal for a magnesium smelter in a regional city in
my state, which will use an electrolytic process, and I understand that this
process has the potential to produce dioxin and other toxic by-products. I
have been working to make sure people are aware of the dioxin issue
(persistent in environment, bioaccumulative, health effects from exposure to
very low levels, UN activity to ban dioxin production etc), and this
proposal falls under the Major Projects provisions of our planning
legislation - there are no third party appeal rights under this section!
(Democratic, eh?!)
 
The Guidelines produced by Planning SA (state government) for this magnesium
smelting proposal require that consideration be given to different smelting
technologies.

Can anyone assist me with, or refer me to, some basic information as to
whether there are any alternative technologies which can achieve a similar
result (magnesium smelting) without the potential production of dioxin and
other toxic by-products?
 
Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Also, I forwarded Jon's information to our Principal Air Quality Advisor, as
we had recently discussed electrostatic precipitators in relation to
Adelaide's Railway Station:

Hi Tom,

I came across some information which said that electrostatic precipitators
were potentially a source of dioxin production. Is this the case?

He sent the following response:

No. They don't represent a source of combustion of aromatics in the presence
of chlorine compounds.  ESPs are used to control very small particles, and
work at high temperatures, so they tend to be used to control  emissions
from municipal waste incinerators, ore smelting furnaces and cement kilns,
all of which themselves can generate dioxins at varying rates.

ESPs actually catch the particles on which dioxins attach themselves, so
they reduce emissions of dioxins. 


Since I do not have technical expertise in this area, could someone please
clarify this for me?

Kind regards
Sharon



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Campbell [mailto:jon@cqs.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, 15 September 1999 6:54
> To: Multiple recipients of list DIOXIN-L
> Subject: Re: Terms used in incineration
> 
> 
> add to that: pyrolysis, gas pyrolysis, plasma, plasma torch, 
> pelletized
> waste fuel, baghouse filter, "water wall" combustor (just a 
> fancy, polluting
> way of protecting the walls of the combustion chamber), electrostatic
> precipitator (where a lot of dioxin is believed to form)...
> 
> Jon