Phase 2 11.2.

10-Incinerators

WASTE OIL (or SLUDGE) INCINERATOR

General
Annex V of MARPOL 73/78 Convention Of IMO gives guidelines with regard to Waste material storage and
disposal at sea. Incineration of various waste materials such as
(a) galley waste including food scraps, bones, cans, bottles, plastics etc;
(b) accommodation wastes such paper, card board, cans, plastics, textiles;
(c) oil sludge including bilge, oil purifiers, lubricating oils. etc; and
(d) sewage sludge
is without doubt the most effective means of dealing with the storage problems of them because the
resultant residues are extremely small in volume and easily disposed of Size of a suitable incinerator can be
calculated on basis of type and quantity of waste material that is to be incinerated every day during normal
usage of 8 hours.

Annex v 2.11.2 Incineration conducted in a shipboard incinerator can significantly reduce the need
to store garbage on board the ship. Shipboard incinerators should be designed, constructed,
operated and maintained in accordance with the IMO Standard Specification for Shipboard
Incinerators (footnote 3). MARPOL Annex VI requires shipboard incinerators installed after 1
January 2000 to be type approved and meet specific air pollution criteria. Incinerators should only
be used to incinerate materials that are specified by the incinerator manufacturer

Types of incinerator

Vertical cyclone type and horizontal burner type are two most commonly used incinerator on the
ship.

Horizontal burner type

The set up is similar to a horizontal fired boiler with burner arrangement horizontal to the
incinerator combustion chamber axis. The ash and noncombustible material remaining at the end of
the operation has to be cleared out manually.

Vertical Cyclone type

In this type, the burner is mounted on the top and the waste to be incinerated is introduced into
the combustion chamber from the top. A rotating arm device is provided to improve combustion
and remove ash and non-combustibles from the surface.

The important parts of the incinerator are:

1. Combustion chamber with diesel oil burner, sludge burner, pilot fuel heater and electric
control panel
2. Flue gas fan which may be fitted with flue gas damper or frequency inverter
3. Sludge service tank with circulating pump and heater
4. Sludge settling tank with filling pump and heater (Optional)
5. Rotating arm to remove ash and non-combustibles (for vertical cyclone type)

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Operation

A sludge burner is placed in the incinerator to burn and dispose of sewage, sludge and waste oil. An
auxiliary oil burner is also fitted to ignite the refuse. Automatic controls provided for the system
secure the igniter when the refuse starts burning without the need of the igniter. Combustion air is
supplied with the help of forced draught fan

A loading door, pneumatically operated, is provided to load the refuse. An interlock is also provided
with burner and forced draught fan, which trips when the loading door is in open condition as part
of the safety.

Solid waste is fed from the loading door, and the incineration process starts after closing the door.
Liquid waste is fed into the system when the refractory of the incinerator becomes hot.

After the completion of the incineration process, the incinerator is allowed to cool down, and
residue like ash and the non-combustibles are removed by pulling the ash slide door. The rotating
arm in the verticle cyclone type scrapes off the entire solid residue in the ash box which can be
easily disposed of.

During incineration, it is important to control the exhaust temperature, which should not be very
high or too low. The high temperature could leads to melting of metal and can cause damage to the
machinery, whereas too low temperature will not be able to burn the residue and sterilise and
remove odour from the residue.

This temperature control can be achieved by introducing cold-diluted air in the exhaust stream at
the point which is as close to incinerator discharge.

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NOTE

Do not incinerate metals such as soda and food can plate, flatware, serving spoons/tray, hardware
(nuts & bolts), structural pieces, wire rope, chains, etc., glass such as bottles, jars, drinking glasses,
etc.

Flammable materials such as bottles or cans containing flammable liquids or gasses and aerosol
cans must not be incinerated.

What cannot be burnt in Incinerator:

1. Annex I-II-III cargo residues and related contaminated packing materials;

2. Garbage as per Annex V containing Heavy Metals
3. E-Wastes/batteries etc
4. PCB’s(Polychlorinated biphenyls ) .
5. Refined petroleum products containing halogen compounds
6. Sewage Sludge and sludge oil can only be incinerated when the ship is not inside ports,
harbours and estuaries.
7. PVC/Plastics can be burnt only in Incinerators approved for the same.
8. Exhaust gas cleaning System residues.
9. metals such as soda and food can, plate, flatware, serving spoons/tray, hardware (nuts &
bolts), structural pieces, wire rope, chains, etc.,
10. Glass such as bottles, jars, drinking glasses, etc
11. Flammable materials such as bottles or cans containing flammable liquids or gasses and
aerosol cans.

Annex V

2.11.3 In general, shipboard incineration should not be undertaken when the ship is in port or at offshore
terminal. Some ports may have domestic laws that specify additional air emission restrictions, particularly
those near high population areas. The use of a shipboard incinerator may require permission from the port
authority concerned.
2.11.4 Table 4 presents options for incineration of garbage, and includes considerations for special handling
by vessel personnel, combustibility, reduction in volume, residual materials, exhaust, and onboard storage
space. Most garbage is amenable to incineration with the exception of metal and glass.

Nagaraj Shenoy

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