The Incineration of Solid and Liquid
Waste at Farbenfabriken Bayer
DR. HORST W.  FABIAN
Farbenfabriken Bayer AG
Bayerwerk, Germany
INTRODUCTION
Because of high population density and rapid increase in industrial production,
the economical disposal of wastes has become a pressing problem. This particularly applies to Europe. In view of the current shortage of space for dumping
sites, the quantitative reduction of wastes, as far as economically reasonable, is
more important than ever. In the case of wastes containing organic substances,
such reduction is suitably effected by incineration.
There is a substantial difference between municipal and industrial wastes.
This is why I will first explain the term industrial wastes, with the emphasis on
those accruing from chemical production plants. The wastes accruing in an industrial plant are of different types. First, there is the type comparable to domestic garbage; it accrues in the form of sweepings, packing material, office
and canteen wastes, cardboard packings and wood, bulky refuse, etc., and can
be readily disposed of in incinerators such as used for domestic garbage. However, the major portion of industrial wastes cannot be destroyed in conventional
incinerators. These "difficult" materials are wastes accruing from production
which are specific for every individual plant: exhausted contact materials, distillation residues, spoiled batches, plastics scrap from production and pilot plants
in the form of granules, film, sheets, strips, bundles, filaments, lumps and cakes
of square-meter size. Wasres also accrue in powder and grain form, and large
quantities are viscous, pasty and watery. The wider the range of products made,
the higher the differentiation of the wastes. This particularly applies to the
chemical industry.
More than 10, 000 different products are made by Farbenfabriken Bayer. It is
evident that the wastes are manifold and that they raise many incineration prob-
ems which are especially due to the unending changes of production.
A yearly total of 500, 000 cu m of wastes accrue in the Leverkusen Works.
By 1975, there will be an additional 150, 000 cum or so of sludge from the chemical-biological purification of sewage from production plants. In comparison, the
yearly 40, 000 tons (metric) of solid and liquid wastes which can be incinerated,
appears to be a small figure.
TEST INCINERATION
The object of incineration is the maximum possible conversion of the wastes
to waste gases that are free from smoke and carbon black and that can be removed without danger, as well as to inorganic slag that can be dumped.
As early as 1960 a pilot plant for the incineration of the accruing wastes was
started.    Previous experiments on the incineration of liquid residues in a brick-
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