THE CINCINNATI MSD HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATOR
A DATA SOURCE FOR USEPA HAZARDOUS WASTE
INCINERATION REGULATIONS
Boyd T. Riley, Jr., Principal
RYCON, INCORPORATED
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
J. H. Trapp, Supervisory Engineer
Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45204
INTRODUCTION
In the late 1960s, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati determined a need for an
incinerator capable of burning industrial solid and liquid wastes produced by customers active in its
general service area. Design for the incinerator was initiated in 1972 and completed in 1973. Operations at the facility, after a number of unforseen construction difficulties, were initiated in 1979.
Recently, the Hamilton County Commissioners and their agent, the Metropolitan Sewer District,
concluded a cooperative agreement with the Incineration Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The general purpose of this agreement was to provide access to the MSD Liquid/
Fluid Hazardous Waste Incinerator to collect data from this publicly owned, multi-customer incinerator for the purpose of supporting EPA permitting procedures, standards and regulations pertaining to the operation of hazardous waste incinerators. This cooperative agreement may be viewed
as one of three major parts of the EPA incinerator research program which allows data to be
produced on specific wastes in terms of their combustion and degradation characteristics at
laboratory scale, at pilot scale in the Combustion Research Facility located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas,
and at a typical full scale hazardous waste incinerator. Day-to-day operation and maintenance of the
incinerator are carried out by MSD personnel. Cooperative efforts to plan and carry out experiments,
to analyze data and to benefit from the results are effected between MSD personnel, EPA personnel
and contractor personnel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM
The Liquid/Fluid Hazardous Waste Incinerator is located on the premises of the Mill Creek
Sewege Treatment Plant in the lower Price Hill section of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The sewage
treatment plant is a 120 million gallon per day, activated sludge plant.
Wastes are delivered to the incinerator principally by tanker truck. Receiving lines for granular
solids delivered by dump trucks are available. Prior to delivery of wastes to the plant, a generator
completed description of the waste must be supplied to LFI personnel to determine compatibility of
the wastes with the facility. Certain types of waste are excluded, such as radioactive materials,
explosives, and materials with high viscosity, which may not be handled as granular solids. Tanker
trucks are unloaded at a waste unloading station which is equipped with a spill control berm and
controlled outlet sewer, in line waste shredders for tramp oversize materials, and pumps suitable for
moving the wastes from the truck into a staging tank. Prior to unloading, wastes are sampled by MSD
personnel and analyzed for heat content, viscosity, chloride content and ash content.
After verifying the acceptability of the waste by on-site sampling, the wastes are delivered from the
holding tanks to a tank farm. Each of ten major tanks in the farm is approximately 25,000 gallons in
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