A Pilot Study on Emissions of Air Pollutants Produced from Incineration of Some Municipal Solid Wastes

This pilot study focuses on emissions characterization of air pollutants produced from incineration of some municipal solid wastes (MSWs). The MSWs incinerated by an electric furnace maintained up to $600^{\circ}C$ included food, paper, and plastic wastes. The pollutants analyzed in this study included concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bottom ash contents, and heavy metals extracted from the bottom ash of each waste. The VOCs identified were classified based on their chemical structure. The total emissions of VOCs produced from incineration of the papers were identified as the highest followed by those from the plastics and the food wastes. Aliphatic alkenes were major VOC compounds produced from incineration of plastic or food wastes, while furans were major VOCs produced from incineration of papers. The second major VOCs produced from incineration of food, plastics, and papers were aromatics. In particular, hazardous air pollutants such as benzene were produced with considerable amount of emission concentration. The bottom ash contents of papers were usually much higher than those of food or plastic wastes. The bottom ash contents produced from incineration of food and plastics were much lower than those of other MSWs. In analysis of heavy metals extracted by an ultrasonic method from the bottom ashes of the papers, high concentrations of heavy metals were identified from incineration of newspapers and box (cardboard). In addition, it was identified that the general public might be exposed to considerable amounts of lead concentrations during incineration processes and uses of paper cup and from ashes.