At Lambton, we reuse the energy generated by the waste treatment process. That is, we use waste to destroy waste—yet another way Lambton meets its commitment to preserving the environment.
The first step is to separate organic liquid waste into three groups, based on its potential to generate energy:
- Rich organics - high-energy waste that burns easily and can be used as fuel
- Emulsions - intermediate-energy waste
- Lean organics - low-energy waste that is hard to burn because it contains large amounts of water
The rich organic and emulsion waste are pressure-injected into the front of the incinerator, where they are mixed with incoming air and ignited. Lean organic waste is injected further down the incineration chamber. Within the incinerator, operating temperatures above 1,300°C (2,307-2,460° F) destroy the waste in less than two seconds. From the incinerator, the gas is transferred through a quench chamber, where it is further cooled to about 470° C (880° F).
From the quench chamber, the air stream enters a spray dryer, where it is drenched in a mist of lime and waste alkaline streams. This process neutralizes the acidic components of the waste and the gas is cooled further still, to roughly 200°C (392°F). The flue gas then passes through a powdered carbon filtration system that removes mercury, dioxins and furans before entering the baghouse, which contains a series of fabric filters that trap the suspended, microscopic particles in the air stream.
During the incineration process with operating temperatures above 1,300°C, organic compounds in the waste are destroyed instantaneously with a destruction efficiency of 99.99%, The neutralized and filtered gas is now typically 50 times cleaner than required by law. It is ready to be released into the atmosphere through the facility's 68-metre (225-foot) tall exhaust stack.