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Influence of different kinds of incinerators on PCDD/Fs: a case study of emission and formation pathway

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Abstract

Few studies focused on the emission of polychlorinated-ρ-dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) from different kinds of waste incinerators. This study was conducted in a full-scale MSW incineration plant to investigate the influence of different incinerator types on PCDD/F. Experimental results indicated that the 2,3,7,8-PCDD/F concentration in the inlet gas of the air pollution control system (APCS) in the studied fluidized bed was higher (2.03 ng I-TEQ/Nm3) than that of the grate (0.77 ng I-TEQ/Nm3). But gas in the outlet of APCS from both incinerators had an approximate concentration, lower than the Chinese emission limit of 0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3. Similar distribution patterns were observed for 2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs, as well as 136 PCDD/F congeners. Specifically, OCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD were major isomer constituents for 2,3,7,8-PCDD/F isomers. In terms of formation pathways, a similar formation mechanism was observed based on fingerprint characteristics of 136 PCDD/F congeners. De novo synthesis was the dominating formation pathway for both incinerators. Meanwhile, DD/DF chlorination was another contributor to PCDD/F formation, which in the fluidized bed was higher. In addition, little correlation (0.009 < R2 < 0.533) between conventional pollutants (HCl, CO, PM) and PCDD/Fs was found, suggesting little high-temperature synthesis observed and verifying the dominance of de novo synthesis.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study were included in this published article.

Abbreviations

APCS:

Air pollution control system

CBz:

Chlorobenzene

CP:

Chlorophenol

DD:

Dibenzodioxin

DF:

Dibenzofuran

EA:

Emission amount

EF:

Emission factor

FA:

Fly ash

FB:

Fluidized-bed type incinerator

GBI:

Exhaust gas sampled from the inlet of bag filters

GCH:

Exhaust gas sampled from the chimney, which is also after the outlet of bag filters

GI:

Grate type incinerator

PCDD/Fs:

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

PM:

Particulate matter

I-TEF:

International toxic equivalency factor

I-TEQ:

International toxic equivalency quantity

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFC1910100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Institute of Thermal Power Engineering of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yuxuan Ying, Xiaoqing Lin, Hao Zhang, Xiaodong Li & Shengyong Lu

  2. Tianjin Eco-Environmental Monitoring Center, Tianjin Ecology and Environment Bureau, Tianjin, 300192, China

    Liang Xu

  3. Shanghai SUS Environment Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201703, China

    Yang Cao & Jisheng Long

Authors
  1. Yuxuan Ying
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  2. Liang Xu
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  3. Xiaoqing Lin
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  4. Hao Zhang
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  7. Yang Cao
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Contributions

Yuxuan Ying: writing, methodology, software, formal analysis, investigation, visualization; Liang Xu: review and editing, formal analysis; Hao Zhang: methodology, data investigation; Xiaodong Li: project administration, funding acquisition; Shengyong Lu: funding acquisition; Yang Cao: data investigation; Xiaoqing Lin, Jisheng Long: methodology, validation, resources, writing — review and editing, project administration, supervision.

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Correspondence to Xiaoqing Lin.

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Ying, Y., Xu, L., Lin, X. et al. Influence of different kinds of incinerators on PCDD/Fs: a case study of emission and formation pathway. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 5903–5916 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22437-7

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