Ultrafine ash particle formation during waste sludge incineration in fluidized bed reactors

Ash formation during the bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) combustion of bark and pulp mill sludge has been studied on an industrial and bench scale. During co-firing in an industrial BFB a submicron fly ash mode was formed via condensation of volatilized K, Na, Sand Cl species at 0.05–0.3 μm.
The submicron mass mode below 0.3 μm made up 2.2–5.0% of the fly ash, while the share of the supermicron mass fraction was 93.6–97.2%. Elements depleted in the ultra fine ash were Ca, Si, Al, Mg, Fe, Mn, P and Ti. The bench-scale test showed that the ultrafine particle concentration was increased by a higher bed temperature and decreased due to sludge moisture. As, Cd, Pb and Rb were enriched in the ultrafine ash on a bench scale, while Ba, Co, Sr and V were depleted.
Cu and Zn were enriched in the ultrafine ash during the combustion of dried sludge, but not when wet sludge was fired. Micron-size ash particles composed of non-volatile species, Ca, Si, Mg, Al, P and Mn, adhered to the bed sand, presumably by surface forces, and sintering densified the ash layer.