United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Hazardous Waste Engineering
Research Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA/600/S2-86/093 Feb. 1987
&EPA Project Summary
Incinerator and Cement Kiln
Capacity for Hazardous Waste
Treatment
Gregory A. Vogel, Alan S. Goldfarb,
Rober E. Zier, and Andrew Jewell
A study was performed to determine
available, unused incinerator and kiln
capacity for destruction of hazardous
waste. The results of this study are to be
used by EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW)
to make decisions regarding the disposal
of hazardous wastes affected by the 1984
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Amendments. Certain wastes are to be
diverted from land disposal to incineration
if sufficient incineration capacity exists.
The results of the study reveal that the
221 incinerators within the RCRA program
(up to the time of the study September
1985) nave a total design capacity of three
(3) million metric tons per year. These in-
cinerators are presently utilized for the
destruction of two (2) million metric tons
per year, leaving an estimated unused ca-
pacity of one (1) million metric tons. The
unused capacity can be further classified
as one-third suitable for destroying solid
wastes, one-half for halogenated waste,
and nearly all for liquid hazardous Waste.
Cement kiln estimates, based on pro-
duction capacity, average values for haz-
ardous waste heat content and a range of
waste substitution percentages, result in
a projected range of total destruction
capacity from 2.27 to 6.05 million metric
tons per year. Present hazardous waste
destruction in cement kilns falls between
60 to 90 thousand metric tons per year,
leaving an unused capacity from 2 to 6
million metric tons per year.
Cement kiln owners cite low incentives
as the main reason for not utilizing more
of their capacity for destroying hazardous
wastes. Among the specific reasons given
are expenses incurred for waste storage
tank construction, burner modification.
additional monitoring equipment, added
operating and maintenance costs and un-
certainty and costs associated with per-
mitting. Unlike many industrial incinerators
{which are operated for the destruction of
the company's own waste exclusively or
primarily), the objective for cement kilns
would be to realize net savings due to
reductions in fuel costs.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Hazardous Waste Engineering
Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to
announce key findings of the research pro-
ject that is futty documented in a separate
report of the same title (see Project Report
ordering information at back).
Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has been authorized to ban
land disposal of some hazardous wastes
under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments to the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act (RCRA). If in-
sufficient capacity exists to dispose of
banned wastes using alternative treatment
technologies, EPA is authorized to delay
the effective date of the ban. However,
incineration and thermal destruction of
specific wastes in cement kilns and incin-
erators are usually preferred methods to
land disposal. This study was carried out
to prepare an estimate of incinerator and
kiln capacity.
The purpose of this study was to esti-
mate the potential hazardous waste de-
struction capacities of incinerators and
cement kilns beyond current utilization.
Between 1980 and 1982 the EPA con-
ducted several studies of domestic hazard-
ous waste incinerator manufacturers,
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owners and operators to determine char-
acteristics of the industry- The information
from these studies and new data obtained
from RCRA Part B permit applications in
1985 were used to estimate incinerator
capacity.
Seventeen (17) Part B applications were
reviewed by EPA's Region 2, 17 applica-
tions were reviewed by Region 3, 30 ap-
plications were reviewed by Region 4, and
38 applications were reviewed by Region
5. The status of incinerators in other Re-
gions was determined through data verifi-
cation forms for the Incineration Permit-
ting Study conducted by AT. Kearney, Inc.
of Alexandria, Virginia. These forms were
completed during November and Decem-
ber 1985. In addition, EPA Regional offices
in California, Louisiana and Texas were
contacted to verify permit status. The
results of these reviews and information
obtained from the hazardous waste incin-
erator manufacturing industry are pre-
sented in the full report.
Presented also are estimates of cement
kiln hazardous waste destruction capacity.
Because there had been no previous stud-
ies on ths topic, and because there was
great reluctance in the cement kiln indus-
try to assist with this study, estimated
capacities were based on the total cement
production figures, fuel required per ton of
product, average value for hazardous
waste heat content, and ranges of waste
substitution percentages, based on cur-
rent practice.
Results
Hazardous Waste Incinerator
Capacity
A total of 350 incinerators were identi-
fied for which Part A applications had been
filed. Of these units, 34 have RCRA
operating permits, 187 have filed Part B
permit applications that are being evalu-
ated, 99 have withdrawn from the RCRA
system and the status of 34 units could
not be determined. (Permit applications are
withdrawn if incinerators cease operation,
no longer burn RCRA hazardous wastes,
or burn hazardous wastes that have been
delisted). Most incinerators have ceased
operation through voluntary action, al-
though a few have been closed through
regulatory enforcement. Most of the in-
cinerators for which the permit status
could not be determined are located in
Texas where a large number of permit ap-
plications are still being classified. More
than half of the incinerators in the RCRA
regulatory program are located in EPA
Regions 5 and 6.
Incinerator design capacities were ob-
tained for 87 percent of the 221 units that
are permitted or have filed an application.
The design, or name-plate, capacity of
these units is 6.28 billion Btu/hour. Extrap-
olating this statistic to include all 221 in-
cinerators in the RCRA regulatory pro-
gram, the projected national capacity is
7.2 billion Btu/hr, which is equivalent to
burning approximately three (3) million
metric tons of hazardous waste per year.
The incinerator capacities and other
data are itemized by combustion chamber
design in Table 1. Rotary kilns have the
largest average capacity and are most
likely to have air pollution control equip-
ment. The relatively high utilization of
rotary kilns is expected because of their
high equipment cost. Utilization of liquid
injection incinerators is relatively low and
less than half are equipped with air pollu-
tion control equipment. Many of these
units are operated intermittently as
needed. The average design capacity for
fume incinerators in Table 1 represents
only the liquid destruction capability; in-
stalled units have additional capacity to
burn fumes. The high utilization results
from integration of fume incinerators with
continuously operating production proc-
esses. Hearth incinerators have the
smallest average capacity and the lowest
incidence of air pollution control equip-
ment installation.
The available capacity estimates in Table
1 are derived from the average design ca-
pacity and the utilization statistics. The
total available capacity estimate of 2.36
billion Btu/hr is roughly equivalent to one
million metric tons of waste a year. Half
of the incinerators are equipped with air
pollution control devices for burning halo-
genated wastes. Most incinerator air pollu-
tion control systems include scrubbers.
Approximately -350,000 metric tons of
available capacity in rotary kilns and
hearths could be used to incinerate solid
hazardous wastes.
Information for 26 commercial inciner-
ators is included in the data summaries for
the 221 units in the RCRA program. The
design capacity of the commercial inciner-
ators that are permitted or have filed ap-
plications totals 781,000 metric tons of
waste annually. However, 34 percent of
this capacity has not yet been con-
structed. The utilization of commercial in-
cinerators is generally regarded as con-
fidential business information but is prob-
ably not significantly different from the
utilization of private units. Nearly all com-
mercial incinerators have air pollution con-
trol equipment.
Information about the characteristics (
incinerated wastes was obtained for a\
proximately 81 percent of the 221 uni
known to be in the RCRA system. Thes
facilities indicated that 1.72 million metr
tons of hazardous wastes are destroye
annually. An annual volume of two millic
metric tons for all 221 incinerators in th
RCRA program may be extrapolated froi
these statistics. This estimate correlate
with the design capacity estimate of thrc
million metric tons and the average utiliz;
tion of 67 percent presented in Table '
Based on the available information, th
waste incinerated in the greatest amoui
is corrosive waste identified by EPA was'
code D002, accounting for 29 percent <
weight of wastes incinerated under th
RCRA program. Of the remainder, appro>
mately 8 percent of the wastes are ii
nitable (D001), 8 percent are reacth
(D003), 5 percent are spent halogenate
solvents (FOOD and the remainder of th
wastes are P, U and other F codes as idei
tified in 40 CFR 261.
The average heating value of all reporte
wastes is 8,580 Btu per pound. Forty-si
percent by weight of the wastes are halt
genated with an average halogen center
of 33.2 percent. The average solids coi
tent of the reported wastes is 7.9 percer
and the average water content is 50.
percent.
Hazardous Waste Incinerator
Manufacturing Industry.
Of the 57 companies identified c
marketing hazardous waste incinerators
a previous study conducted in 1981, 2
have either gone out of business, left th
hazardous waste incinerator business, <
have put much less emphasis on this a<
tivity. Only one new company has enterc
this market. Of the 23 companies marke
ing liquid injection incinerators in 198
only 12 are marketing them now; of th
17 companies offering rotary kiln incine
ators in 1981, only 11 are doing so nov
and of the nine companies offering fluii
ized bed incinerators in 1981, only six r
main. Of the 16 hearth incinerator mam
facturers in 1981, 12 remain. Half of th
companies offering innovative incineratic
technology in 1981 have left the mark
place. The active incinerator manufa
turers are listed in the full report.
The 35 manufacturers cooperating
this study reported that 111 incinerate
had been sold since 1981. The populatic
and design capacity statistics provided f
the major types are summarized in Tab
2. Nearly all of these incinerators a
equipped with air pollution control device
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Table 1. Estimated Available Incinerator Capacity by Incinerator Design
Incinerator Number Average Design Utilization
Design of Capacity (Percent)
Units (Million Btu/hr)
Rotary Kiln
Liquid Injection
Fume
Hearth
Other
Total or Average
Values
45
101
26
34
15
221
61.4
28.3
33.1
22.8
19.3
32.4
77
55
94
62
67
Available
Capacity
(Million Btu/hr)
635
1284
52
294
95
2360
Percent With
Air Pollution
Control Equipment
90
42
40
38
50
Cement Kiln Capacity
The available hazardous waste destruc-
tion capacity in cement kilns is estimated
from data including cement production
capacity, kiln fuel consumption and the
percentages of the thermal input that can
be provided by hazardous wastes. Based
on this study, present annual capacity for
cement production in the United States is
estimated at 92.1 million tons. Govern-
ment census statistics indicated that 71.3
million tons were produced in 1983.
Cement is produced by wet and dry
processes, depending on whether the raw
materials are reduced in size using water.
The current trend favors the dry process
because less energy is required than in the
wet process where considerable amounts
of water must be evaporated and heated.
A breakdown of cement production capac-
ity by process type and the associated
energy consumption is shown in Table 3.
Fuel requirements for cement kilns
range from 3 million Btu per ton of product
for dry kilns to 6 million Btu per ton of
product for wet kilns. Using these statis-
tics, the annual energy requirement for ce-
ment kilns is estimated to be approxi-
mately 400 trillion Btu. Wastes may sup-
ply between 10 and 60 percent of the kiln
heat input and a typical value is approx-
imately 30 percent.
The heating values of wastes burned in
cement kilns range from 8,000 to 18,000
Btu per pound based on current practice.
The wastes with low heating values are
probably burned at low firing rates to pre-
vent kiln upsets. Wastes with high heating
values similar to fuels can replace large
percentages of fuel input. Table 4 shows
a probable upper, typical and lower bound
for waste destruction in cement kilns.
Most of the wastes reported to have
been burned in cement kilns are either
spent solvents, paint wastes or still bot-
toms from solvent recovery operations.
These liquid wastes contain metals such
as titanium, lead, chromium, manganese,
zinc and barium. A limited amount of
metal oxides can be incorporated in ce-
ment without affecting the quality of the
Table 2. Thermal Ratings of New Hazardous Waste Incinerators Reported by Manufacturers
Incinerator Range Average Number of
Type Ratings* Rating* Units Sold**
(10s Btu/hrl (1O6 Btu/hr)
Liquid Injection
Hearth
Rotary Kiln
4-200
4- 48
0.5 - WO
56
20
44
57
36
14
*23 manufacturers reporting.
* *35 manufacturers reporting.
Table 3. Cement Kiln Capacities by Process Type
Process Annual Cement
Capacity
(Thousands
of tons)
Wet kiln
Dry kiln
Both Wet and Dry kilns
at same location
Process Unknown
Totals
26,783
39,384
17,172
8,803
92, 142
Estimated
Energy Use Rate
(Million Btu per
ton of cement)
6
3
4.5
5
Estimated
Annual Energy
Consumption
(Trillion Btu)
160.70
1 18. 15
77.27
44.02
400. 14
Table 4. Waste Capacity Estimates for Cement Kilns
Fuel Replacement
Rate
(Percent)
10
30
60
Waste Heating
Value
(Btu/lb)
8,000
12,000
18,000
Annual Cement Kiln
Waste Capacity
(Million of
Metric tons)
2.27
4.54
6.05
product and paniculate emissions are con-
trolled by existing fabric filters, elec-
trostatic precipitators or other devices.
Cement kiln operators typically place
limits on selected waste characteristics to
ensure a uniform high quality product. A
summary of the range of acceptable waste
characteristics is presented in Table 5 for
the 12 documented cases of waste incin-
eration in cement kilns used for this study.
Other important characteristics of accept-
able wastes include a sufficiently low
viscosity to permit atomization, low vola-
tility, and being single-phase and non-
corrosive.
The quantity of wastes destroyed in
three permitted cement kilns was ob-
tained from the Economic Analysis
Branch, Office of Solid Waste, EPA. In
1983, the three kilns burned 21,741 metric
tons of hazardous waste. The Economic
Analysis Branch has estimated that 8 to
12 cement kilns have received hazardous
waste storage permits necessary to burn
hazardous wastes. Extrapolating the
known waste destruction quantities for
the three kilns provides estimates of
58,000 metric tons destroyed in 8 kilns
and 87,000 metric tons destroyed in 12
kilns.
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These estimates of the quantities of
wastes currently destroyed in cement kilns
are one to four percent of the estimated
potential cement kilns' capacity. The avail-
able capacity estimates for wastes that
could be destroyed in cement kilns range
from two (2) to six (6) million metric tons
per year, or from 0.8 to 2.3 percent of the
hazardous wastes generated annually in
the United States.
Based on conversations with cement
kiln operators, the profitability of waste
destruction in cement kilns is marginal. Ex-
penses include storage tank construction,
permitting, burner modification, additional
monitoring equipment, operating and
maintenance costs, waste analyses and
the cost of the hazardous waste which
ranges from 10 to 70 cents per pound.
Economic benefits include the reduction
of fuel costs and the receipt of disposal
fees.
Table 5. Range of Acceptable Waste Feed Characteristics for Cement Kilns
Waste Parameter Acceptable Range
Heating Value
Sulfur
Ash
Water
Chlorine
pH
Lead
Chromium
Zinc
Barium
Titanium
Mercury
Arsenic
8,000 Btu/lb
1%
5%
1%
3%
4
to
to
to
to
to
to
18,000 Btu/l
3%
12%
10%
10%
11
Less than 4,OOO ppm
1,500 to 3,000 ppm
1,000 to 3,000 ppm
less than 3,000 ppm
less than 6,000 ppm
less than 10 ppm
less than 10 ppm
Gregory A. Vogel, Alan S. Goldfarb, Robert E. Zier, and Andrew Jewell are
with The MITRE Corporation, McLean. VA 22102-3481.
Ivars J. Lids is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Incinerator and Cement Kiln Capacity for
Hazardous Waste Treatment." (Order No. PB 87-110 896/AS; Cost: $13.95.
subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati. OH 45268
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center (or Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
U.S.OFF4CIALMA5/
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/600/S2-86/093
*™l = o 2 2r
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CHICAGO
PROTCTION AGENCY
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