Section Five
WASTE MANAGEMENT
D. COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY
63    TESTING OF THE PEDCO ROTARY COMBUSTION SYSTEM
AT THE NORTH AMERICAN RAYON PLANT IN
ELIZABETHTON, TENNESSEE
Glenn T. Cunningham, Assistant Professor
Center for Electric Power
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, Tennessee 38505
Charles E. Hickman, Director
Center for Electric Power
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, Tennessee 38505
William Long, Vice President
PEDCO Incorporated
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
Peter G. Blatchley, Superintendent Utilities
North American Rayon Corporation
Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643
INTRODUCTION
The Rotary Cascading Bed Combustion (RCBC) technology, which is an innovative combination of
well-known theories, has been under development by Pedco Incorporated since 1981. A combusting bed
of solids consisting of fuel, ash, limestone and sand are cascaded across the diameter of a rotating
cylindrical combustion chamber to provide a thorough mixing between the solids and gases. This highly
mixed atmosphere provides excellent conditions for combustion and chemical reactions to control
gaseous emissions. Phase 1 and Phase II demonstrations of the RCBC have been completed. Phase I
demonstrations were in Ohio. Following Phase I the boiler was modified and installed at the North
American Rayon Corporation plant in Elizabethton, Tennessee for the Phase II demonstrations. This
paper details the Phase II operations. Based on test results and other observations made during the Phase
II program, the following major conclusions are drawn:
• The RCBC system can burn a wide variety of fuels in an environmentally acceptable
manner
• Fuels can be changed "on-the-fly" without shutting down or losing the desired steam
conditions
• Fly ash has the potential for beneficial uses as a soil conditioner, fertilizer ingredient or
construction material additive.
Rotary Cascading Bed Combustion (RCBC) Technology has progressed through a bench scale model
in 1982, an incinerator version operated in 1984 and 1985 and then to a 5,000 pounds per hour of steam
demonstration boiler built in 1986 and operated in Cincinnati in 1986 and 1987. The demonstration
boiler was modified and relocated to the North American Rayon Corporation (NARC) plant in Elizabethton, Tennessee in 1990.
The Phase II test program conducted at NARC had four objectives:
47th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, 1992 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
Printed in U.S.A.
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