Hankin Fluidized Bed Incinerator

Hankin Fluidized Bed Incinerator

Hankin is a leader in fluidized bed combustion of sludges generated from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment processes. The Hankin Fluidized Bed Incinerator (FBI) accepts any proportion of sludge, hazardous liquids, grease or scum. The Hankin FBI system provides an environmentally sound and practical method of reducing wastewater sludges to a sterile, inert ash with minimal auxiliary fuel. A volume reduction of 95% from the incoming feed to inert ash is typical. Hankin designs and provides the emissions control system for the exhaust gas to comply with all local, state, and federal emissions limits.

The advantages of the Hankin FBI are as follows:

Efficient Intermittent Operation- The bed of hot sand is a heat sink which maintains a high enough temperature to permit immediate startup after shutdowns of 16 hours or longer. Temperature losses during a shutdown are approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit per hour.
Accepts All Feed Material- Any proportion of sludge, grease or scum can be fed into the furnace until the unit reaches its thermal capacity.
Low Maintenance- No moving parts in the FBI system results in reduced maintenance while the isothermal conditions, which are inherent in the reactor during operation, startup, or shutdown, help prolong the refractory life.
Accurate Temperature Control- Automatic control of temperature, within 10 degrees Fahrenheit is accomplished by injection of cooling water, if required, during autogeneous operation or by fuel injection for non-autogeneous combustion.
Heat Recovery- Heat may be recovered by a gas to air heat exchanger, which preheats the incoming fluidizing air, or by a heat recovery boiler. With a typical sludge and reactor outlet temperature of 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, as much as 45% of the heat contained in the feed can be recovered in the form of steam.

Hankin has provided the FBI system to various wastewater treatment plants in the USA and overseas. Our most recent FBI projects include renovations to the air pollution control system of a 10’ diameter bed with 16’ diameter freeboard Hankin FBI in operation for 24 years to control mercury emissions. These renovations were requested to comply with current EPA mercury emissions compliance levels. Also two (2) Hankin FBIs with a 14’ diameter bed and 20’ diameter freeboard were commissioned in 2017 in a wastewater treatment plant in Turkey. These FBI systems include the unique features for waste heat recovery that generates power to run the system.

Applications
Hankin FBI systems have been designed and supplied to incinerate the following: