SICK - About SICK - Customer Magazine - Article overview SICK-MAIHAK insight 2003 - Community waste treated

The requirements for the landfill of waste are becoming more stringent. Beginning in 2005, only decomposed “mineralized” residual waste will be allowed to be stored in landfills, according to the new (TASi) regulation “Technical guidelines for community landfills”. This means that waste will have to be pre-treated. A suitable treatment method is for example to put the waste in a mechanical-biological waste treatment system (MBA) where the garbage is mechanically/physically separated and subsequently treated biologically. One of the prerequisites is that emission limits are met which are similar to those required by waste incinerator plants.

>> Additional limitations which are valid for the MBA according to the 30th Federal Ambient Protection Law (BIm-SchV) for volatile organic substances including methane (VOC), for nitrous oxide (N2O) as well as for aromatics.

SICK-MAIHAK offers a custom designed complete solution which will accurately and continuously measure the concentration of unburned hydrocarbons (total HC), nitrous oxide (N2O) and total dust to measure the emissions from an MBA. In addition, volume flow, temperature and pressure are measured. The analyzed values are then compiled in a emission computer which is integrated in the system. The average value required for reporting, is then calculated and together with the data from the input scale, the loads are calculated according to the guidelines of the 30th BImSchV.

Here is how it works: The exhaust is extracted from the chimney through a probe. The gas passes through a heated filter and line and then through a gas conditioning system with a cooler for the N2O measurement, and is then delivered to the various different analyzers. The flame ionization detector – EuroFID (or the model 3002) – continuously measures the concentration of unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas. The modular S 700 measures the N2O concentration in the exhaust gas using a NDIR gas analyzer; the principle of operation uses the infrared absorption characteristics of the gas.

A combination instrument measures the dust and volume flow: Using the FW 100 the total dust concentration is measured directly in the exhaust stream and in real time. It operates using the scattered light principle. The volume flow instrument FLOWSIC 100 measures gas velocity, gas temperature and pressure in-situ, i.e. also directly in the gas stream. It is based on an ultrasonic principle of measurement whereby travel time differences of sonic impulses are measured.

All of this makes up a complete exhaust gas analysis system, for which SICK-MAIHAK offers full service. This includes planning, construction, installation as well as customer training and start-up of the complete system.