Process for incinerating domestic refuse in a fluidized bed furnace

Claim 1

A process for incinerating domestic refuse and the like with intrinsic smoke cleaning in which the refuse previously broken down to an appropriate particle size is introduced into a dense fluidized bed fed with primary combustion supporting air from below in which the fixed parts burn and the volatile parts are released comprising, along with combustible gases, pollutants such as sulfur oxides and halogenated gases in particular and entrained solid particles; secondary combustion-supporting air is injected into a post-combustion chamber over the fluidized bed furnace in which said combustible gases burn to form smoke; and the thermal energy of the smoke is recovered in a boiler with walls provided with water tubes subdivided by baffles into successive alternately upward and downward vertical paths, the upward first path extending the post-combustion chamber, in which process, the boiler being divided into at least three smoke paths, limestone is introduced into the fluidized bed in at least stoichiometric excess relative to the sulfur-containing compounds, measured as sulfur oxides; powdered lime is injected at the start of the upward third path in quantities at least sufficient to neutralize the halogenated gases; powder solids are recovered at the lower level between the second and third paths and these powder solids are introduced into the fluidized bed furnace.