Technical Paper
Design and Construction of a Pilot Scale System to Remove Pollutants from an Incinerator Effluent
2001-07-09
2001-01-2249
Incineration is a promising method for converting biomass and human waste into CO2 and H2O during extended planetary exploration. However, incineration produces small amounts of NOX and SO2 in the effluent, which must be removed. TDA Research has developed a safe and effective process to remove NOX and SO2 from waste incinerator product gas streams. In our process, NO is catalytically oxidized to NO2, using a low temperature oxidation catalyst developed at TDA. Wet scrubbers then remove the NO2, with most of the NO2 converted into an aqueous solution that can be used as a plant nutrient. A packed bed containing a basic sorbent, also developed at TDA, removes SO2 from the effluent. As part of an SBIR Phase II project, TDA designed and constructed a pilot scale effluent cleaning system, which will be used with the incinerator at NASA Ames Research Center.