MSW incineration furnace refractory walls cooling by air impingement jets and effusion

The conversion of municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy is a practice of refuse management becoming more and more important every day since all land available for the deposition of refuse will be filled in a few years, and the energy generated becomes an added value to plant operating costs. Differences in characteristics of MSW lead to differences in the combustion processes. During the last years the composition and the heating value of MSW collected in the metropolitan area of Barcelona has experienced substantial changes following the trend of increasing population and welfare. As a result, the flame temperature has increased by about 280°C. As a consequence, operation problems have appeared in old incinerators and the repair costs of furnace refractory walls have increased. In order to solve the problems and to diminish the furnace wall repair costs at the incinerator that the TERSA company has in Sant Adrià de Besos (Barcelona), a new method of furnace refractory walls building has been developed. This paper describes the new system of furnace refractory walls that uses essentially perforated tiles cooled by air impingement jets and effusion techniques, showing the operational advantages and the increasing energy efficiency obtained.