Incineration of Liquid Wastes
RICHARD   J. SAWINSKI, Senior Waste Control Engineer
Waste Control Department
The Dow Chemical Company
Midland, Michigan
INTRODUCTION
Production of liquid wastes is not something new, but their proper disposal is
becoming of increasing concern with the environmental emphasis today. Some wastes
cause pollution problems when disposed of in such conventional manners as
discharging to a sewer system, dumping to a water course, open burning in pits, or
dumping on land. These are the wastes of concern in this presentation. One effective
method of combating environmental pollution by these liquid wastes is to thermally
destroy them by incineration. As there are currently several dozen manufacturers
offering equipment with various incineration capabilities, we might think that liquid
waste disposal problems are easily solved. However, this is generally not the case. The
cheap and easy solution may result in tlie transfer of our waste pollution problem.
For example, air pollutants, contaminated water from gas scrubbing systems, and
solid residues requiring land disposal can all be by-products of incineration.
Particularly for those of you who are beginning to think about incineration of
your liquid wastes, I would like to present for your consideration a discussion of
various aspects of the process. My objective is not to discuss each area in depth, but
rather to review some of the points that could effect the facility you may be
contemplating. I believe you will find that real in-depth effort must go into the
proper development and operation of a waste liquid incineration facility. Before we
discuss the incineration process, it is essential to spend some time in the definition
and planning phases. First, and very basic to anything that you do, take a very long,
hard look at the individual waste streams—specifically their quantity and
composition. Anything that can be done to reduce the quantity (such as improve
process efficiency, recycle, or develop new uses for the material) could significantly
lower your disposal cost through savings in capital and operating dollars. Many times,
due to their composition, if is preferable to handle wastes individually rather than to
mix several together. It is possible to add small quantities of one or two wastes with
very bad properties to a large quantity of good quality wastes and find the end result
to be a large quantity with the bad properties. The source is the best place to control
the problem. It is there, before wastes become mixed together, that individual
streams can be isolated and treated, reduced in quantity, or recycled.
If complete and proper disposal is to be attained—and this should be the
objective-it is necessary to have adequate lead time to be able to work through the
definition and planning phases, which can include considerable analytical, testing,
and development effort. This can be done when you anticipate a problem and work
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