By Heron Kleis, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund and Søren Dalager, Rambøll

100 YEARS OF WASTE INCINERATION IN

From Refuse Destruction Plants to High-technology Energy Works 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark

From Refuse Destruction Plants to High-technology Energy Works

By Heron Kleis, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund and Søren Dalager, Rambøll

Reprinted 2007

3 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark Preface

Contents Preface

1. Th e Be g i n n i n g 1930 - 1962 3. Fr o m Di s t r i c t He a t i n g t o It Be g an in Frederiksber g ...... p a g e 4 Co m b i n e d He a t a n d Po w e r 1990 - 2003 In September 2003 the Municipality of Gentofte Incineration Pl ant ...... p a g e 7 CHP Ag ain ...... p a g e 34 celebrated its centenary as the first municipality in Th e New Pl ant in Frederiksber g . . . . p a g e 9 Ener g y 2000 ...... p a g e 35 Denmark ever to supply its inhabitants with district Aar h u s Incineration Pl ant ...... p a g e 11 Ta x es and Subsidies ...... p a g e 36 heating. Vø l u nd – an Estab l is h ed Su p p l ier . . . . p a g e 14 Th e Pl ants of Today ...... p a g e 37 Wh atever Ha p p ened to Co p en h a g en ? . . . p a g e 16 The heat was produced on the basis of waste collected Th e German Occ u p ation 4. Th e Fu t u r e Aft e r 2003 in the municipality. The original district heating plant 1940-45 And Th e Post -war Era ...... p a g e 17 Best Avai l ab l e Tec h ni q u e (BAT) . . . . p a g e 40 was therefore also Denmark’s first incineration plant, and waste has in fact been incinerated in at least one Th e Ch a l l en g es of Tomorrow . . . . . p a g e 44 plant in Denmark throughout the period of 1903 to 2. Th e Br e a k -t h r o u g h 1963 - 1989 2003. Incineration Re-emer g es in t h e 1960s . . p a g e 20 Postscri p t ...... p a g e 46 Th e Po l l u tion Board and Mu nici p a l Waste Incineration Pl ants in Waste incineration therefore also celebrated its centen- t h e Environmenta l Protection Act . . . p a g e 27 Denmark and Th e Faroe Is l ands . . . . p a g e 47 ary in 2003. Initially, there were only a few plants, but Th e Ener g y Crises of 1973 and 1979 . . . p a g e 29 Literat u re ...... p a g e 48 approximately 40 years ago the situation changed. It Th e Dioxin Debate ...... p a g e 30 became more and more common to exploit the energy content of the waste for the production of heat, and today the technology and pollution control methods applied are so highly developed that incineration has become the officially prescribed method for the treat- ment of incinerable waste in Denmark.

Consequently, Denmark has achieved a leading posi- tion regarding the percentage of waste incinerated and know-how in the area.

During this 100-year period the Danish society has undergone tremendous developments – in terms of national income as well as technology – and the way of life significantly differs from what it used to be 100 years ago. These changes have had an impact on the incineration plants too. The waste composition and the way in which the waste is collected and transported have changed. The plants have become more compli- cated because of increasingly stringent environmental standards. They are now however operated by a lot less staff.

The authors of this book have been involved with incin- eration for 50 and almost 40 years, respectively. They are both approaching retirement and therefore feel The bottom ash from both the first and the second called upon to look back on the first 100 years of waste incineration plants in the municipality of Frederiksberg incineration in Denmark. was taken to a crushing plant in front of the old stack. After crushing, the bottom ash was brought by tippers to the area in the front where it was allowed to age prior The authors hope that this book will preserve a corner to being sold. of Danish history, and naturally they also hope that the readers will find it interesting. 4 5 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

from the incineration of municipal solid British company of Hughes & Stirling plant was commissioned in September waste to supply steam, hot water and and steam boilers… from Babcock 1903’. 1.  Th e Be g i n n i n g electricity to the new hospital. & Wilcox as well as two coal-fired steam boilers, a hot water system and This is the introduction of a descrip- Consequently, in February 1902, it an electricity generator so that the tion from 1948 of the – at the time was decided to establish an incinera- incineration plant in effect became a existing – second plant for the incin- tion plant… with three units from the combined heat and power plant… The eration of municipal solid waste in Frederiksberg.

The plant from 1903 was not only Denmark’s first waste incineration plant, but also Denmark’s first district heating plant, even in the form of a combined heat and power plant. The 1903-1962 plant was located on a site opposite to what is today Frederiksberg Hospital.

Vølund was there too The district heating contract was assigned to Vølund, which was a young company at the time. In the company’s 25th anniversary book from 1923, it reads that: ‘A large con- tract… worthy of a mention was the It Be g an in Frederiksber g district heating plant located at the incineration plant of Frederiksberg. The piping work was the most com- In September 1903 incineration was a view to examining the combustibility prehensive work of its kind ever per- introduced as a method for the treat- etc. of the municipal solid waste gen- formed, and it had to be concluded in ment of waste in Denmark. erated in Frederiksberg, a sample was just four months. It consisted of high- sent by rail to the waste incineration pressure steam pipes, hot water pipes Even before a municipal reform in plant in Hamburg where the waste and return water pipes installed in tun- 1970, Frederiksberg – an enclave was incinerated on a test basis. The nels from the boiler system of the plant located in the middle of the capital of result of the test was that the waste to all the buildings at Frederiksberg – was one of the smallest was combustible, and much heat was Hospital and an Old People’s Home, municipalities by area in Denmark. produced so that steam could be gen- and was later extended by hot water On the other hand, it was the most erated in steam boilers. Moreover, the pipes… leading to the public baths of densely populated one. It is therefore quality of the bottom ash was good and the municipality of Frederiksberg. A not surprising that this municipality could be applied for various technical total of 8500 m of pipes were installed ‘… realised in 1897 that soon it would purposes. and approximately 800 valves and taps not be possible to identify sites suit- were applied. For this work Vølund able for the landfilling of municipal At the same time… in August 1898 it received due recognition, not just solid waste within the boundaries of had been decided to build a complex of because of the good workmanship, but Frederiksberg municipal culture and sports centre, The Boiler Hall. The buildings, which Frederiksberg… which is why the pos- buildings nearby for a new municipal also because of the tight time schedule One of the furnaces at Frederiksberg’s were erected in 1903 on the basis of drawings prepared by the chief architect of the Danish sibility of establishing a waste incin- hospital in Frederiksberg… An obvious first incineration plant. state-owned railway company, Heinrich Wenck, housed Denmark’s first incineration plant within which the comprehensive work eration plant was investigated… With solution was to exploit the heat produced Source: Frederiksberg Forsyning. until 1934. From 1934 to 2000 the buildings were used as a steam heating plant. had been performed’.

6 7 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

A new plant was planned By the 1920s the plant had become too small, and in the summer of 1925 the technical department of the Munici- pality of Frederiksberg had prepared a proposal for a new plant. The 1948 description continues:

‘At that time, however, Vølund had brought it to the Municipality’s attention that the machine works of “Aktiebolaget Landsverk” in Lands- krona, [Vølund’s licensee] was testing the incineration of munici- pal solid waste in a rotary kiln… The proposal for the new plant… was therefore dropped, and the tested ro- tary kiln was installed by Vølund at the old incineration plant of Frederiks- berg. A number of tests were then carried out until January 1929… The tests convinced the Municipality that the rotary kiln was perfectly suited for the incineration of municipal solid waste – and even better than other well-known furnaces – which is why Vølund was requested to prepare a proposal for a new incineration plant based on such rotary kilns’.

A couple of years passed before a final

decision was made. Gentofte incineration plant was inagurated in 1931. The plant was the first plant to be supplied by Vølund.

Gentofte Incineration Pl ant The adverse impacts of the many landfills of the time, slowly paved the way for the introduction of waste incineration. The description of the Frederiksberg The plant in Gentofte – one of the Collection by plant continues: ‘Following a test for municipalities in the ‘cocktail belt’ motor-driven vehicles The plant was what would today be consisted of poorly combusted waste’, the incineration of Gentofte’s muni- north of Copenhagen – was inaugur- Motor-driven vehicles constructed by called a batch-fired plant. ‘The waste wrote Vølund in 1936. cipal solid waste in the rotary kiln at ated in 1931 in the presence of Prime Vølund and equipped with two sep- was fed to the furnace in batches, the incineration plant of Frederiks- Minister Thorvald Stauning. The arate waste containers collected the and a long time passed until igni- Vølund’s former chief engineer, Evald berg, the Municipality of Gentofte plant consisted of two steam pro- tion. When this finally happened, an Blach, noted in 1962 that ‘the plant decided to establish a new incin- ducing incineration units with a joint amount of polluted gas and steam was consisted of a number of cells, each eration plant based on Vølund’s rota- condensing turbine, and the cooling formed and emitted directly to the air. with a capacity of approximately 1 t/h ry kilns. Therefore Frederiksberg water was re-circulated across a large Even with a very high stack, this could … The manual operation was expen- suspended its plans for the construc- wooden cooling tower. It did not only be a nuisance to the surroundings. sive and the deslagging was difficult, tion of its own incineration plant incinerate waste from Gentofte, but Another negative impact was the for- very unpleasant and gave rise to a lot pending the operating results from also from the adjacent municipality mation of “bottom ash cakes”, which of false air’. Gentofte’. of Lyngby-Taarbæk.

8 9 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

Sectional drawing of Frederiksberg’s second incineration plant. Note the horse-drawn wagon on the right, tipping waste into the waste pit and the crane grab at the top feeding it into the furnace.

Th e New Pl ant in Frederiksber g

‘As these [the operating results from The municipal solid waste is collected in Frederiksberg was from the outset Gentofte] fully met everybody’s from each property three times a week equipped with a reception pit complete expectations, Frederiksberg decided, (every other weekday)… from 6 a.m. with cranes for feeding the waste. in November 1932, to establish a to 4.30 p.m. The wagons are drawn by completely new incineration plant two horses as … this has proven to be ‘The incineration plant is in con- based on Vølund’s rotary kiln system. … by far the cheapest solution, both tinuous operation six days a week with in terms of initial cost and the cost of Sunday being the usual day off for the Prime Minister Th. Stauning (third from the The plant was commissioned in… applying horse-drawn wagons rather operating staff. Usually 1 furnace/ right) visiting Gentofte incineration plant. September 1934… Its central location than motor vehicles.’ boiler is operated by 3 shifts of 8 is not inconvenient to its neighbours, hours, each shift consisting of 1 crane even though it is a rather densely Private hauliers collected the waste. operator, 1 furnace/boiler operator, 1 waste. Upon arrival at the plant, the In time this approach became too The plant was in operation until 1970 populated housing area. For more information on working bottom ash discharge operator, 1 bot- containers were lifted by a crane from impractical, and it was decided to when both municipalities joined with horse-drawn wagons (see box tom ash remover, 1 relief man and 2 the vehicles to the feeding chute of furnish the plant with a reception pit. Vestforbrænding, see p. 25, and the Only municipal solid waste from on p. 11). workers at the waste reception from 6 one of the furnaces. Here, the bottom The pit was designed by the consult- buildings were later on demolished. Frederiksberg – not from Copenhagen a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Hence, for the opera- of the container opened, the waste ing engineering company, Rambøll & – is incinerated, and the waste is not tion of 1 incineration unit 17 staff per was emptied into the chute and the Hannemann A/S, and was the compa- separated or screened, but fed to the First plant with reception pit day are required, not including work- crane lifted the container back to the ny’s first project in the area of waste furnaces in the form in which it is As opposed to the plants in Gentofte ers for the operation of the bottom ash vehicle. incineration. delivered from the municipality. and (see p. 11), the new plant crusher or for cleaning or holiday/

10 11 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

illness relief. At the old incineration The plant was in operation until 1975 plant, incineration of the same amount and was later on demolished. Aar h u s Incineration Pl ant of municipal solid waste required 40 Frederiksberg’s second incineration plant staff to continuously operate all three shortly before completion in 1934. On the furnaces on week-days and partly on right is the stack of the old plant from 1903, Sundays’. see page 5.

Working with horse-drawn wagons

In 1898 Renholdningsselskabet af 1898 (The Public Cleansing Com- pany of 1898, in short R 98) got concession on the collection and dis- posal of latrine in the Municipality of Copenhagen. In the 30s it became clear that the days of latrine collec- tion were about to end, and R 98 started to engage themselves in the collection of municipal solid waste.

In their 100th anniversary book from 1998 R 98’s former employee, Helmer Sondergaard (born 1911) writes:

‘A friend of mine introduced me Aarhus incineration plant was commissioned in 1934. The front gates were used by the to a private haulage contractor collection wagons exiting the plant. in Frederiksberg. We drove with This plant was also commissioned in better solution to incinerate the waste horses at the time. We had a 1934. On this occasion the Munici- rather than to landfill it’. Nothing ever stable near the centre of the pality of Aarhus – the second largest became of it, though – ‘it was a time municipality, and we watered city of Denmark – published a small when no rash decisions were made’ and fed the horses every day folder written by Holger Eriksen: The – and in 1911 a new landfill was estab- – also on Sundays. We took Municipal Refuse Destructor Plant in lished in the municipality. turns at doing that. Many of Aarhus. The folder reads: ‘In many the old scavengers were shabby; respects Aarhus has gained a leading ‘It was not until October 1926 that the position also in the area of sanita- municipality again began to take an some of them lived on the hay- tion, and at the turn of the century it interest in the matter of an incineration loft above the stable. They were was considered whether it would be a plant’. DSB – the Danish state-owned almost bums’.

12 13 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

railway company – wanted to make was erecting the first incineration which the waste should be collected. The waste is temporarily stored in… use of the area where the landfill was plant based on the rotary kiln princi- Vehicles are the order of the day, the bay, and subsequently transported located and asked for the removal of ple… The Committee agreed that of but an investigation showed that with by two scraper conveyors to a vi- the landfill. ‘The rats [on the site] are everything they had seen, there was the relatively short distances to be brating feeder, which is continuously alive and kicking; they are present in no doubt that the Vølund system from covered and the many stops along the moving back and forth, taking the huge numbers… A subsequent cam- back home was the best’. way the application of motor vehicles waste to a chute that leads to the paign mentioned that millions of rats is uneconomical, and the old horse- drying grate of the furnace’. Then fol- were there. drawn wagon was therefore selected. lowed an ignition grate and a rotary Grumblers kiln, cf. sectional drawing. The bottom Now was the time to act, and the The mayor of Aarhus, H.P. Christen- Waste is collected in dedicated horse- ash was taken to a sorting plant with a Pavement Committee… now worked sen, known as the ‘blacksmith’, had drawn wagons equipped with closed magnetic separator ‘so that the bottom at full speed. There were many plans for many years been a keen supporter containers. The body of the wagon has ash is sorted into three fractions as to buy farms in the suburbs and zone of incineration and achieved his aim a hatch in the back and is designed in well as an iron fraction. the purchased areas for landfills. But by strong-arm methods. ‘Of course, such a way that it can be tipped.’ Sectional drawing of Aarhus incineration plant. the municipalities in question… did some hostility arose – some discon- On the top floor two horse-drawn wagons can The incineration products have an not want to move the rat Eldorado to tent. People complained about bad be seen. The one on the right is waiting for average temperature of approximately their preserves. odours, dust and fumes – but when Up we go! the lift, while the other one is being emptied. 1000°C in the flue gas chamber after has a major project ever been realised ‘When the wagon arrives at the in- the rotary kiln. The heat contained in Also the Lighting Committee now without birth pangs and without cineration plant, it drives into the the incineration products is recovered starts to make experiments… Maybe professional grumblers having a field western lift and then both the wagon in a Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure it would be possible to combine the day?’ and horses ascend… There has not boiler. The rotary kiln system gene- incineration plant with the extension been any difficulties related to lift- rates very little fly ash – only approxi- of the municipal power station. The The plant, which was equipped with ing the horses. On the top floor the mately 2 per cent of the amount of Lighting Committee then goes on a two identical units, was established wagon drives to a free bay, and the waste incinerated… In order to be journey… One is impressed by the next to the municipal power station so body of the wagon is tipped… so able to perform a complete cleaning filth prevailing at the British incinera- that the steam produced could be sent that the waste is emptied into the of the flue gas both the boiler and the tion plants and equally impressed by to the power station and converted waste pit… Absolutely nobody gets economiser are equipped with ‘soot the unfailing cleanliness found at the into electricity and heat. It was ‘first into physical contact with the waste. pockets’… and after the economiser incineration plant in Cologne. The and foremost designed for household When the wagon has been emptied, it a special flue gas cleaner capturing Committee visited the incineration waste… The household waste has drives on to a lift across the building approximately 80 per cent of the fly plant under erection in Hamburg and to be collected once or twice a week, and then descends the same way it ash has been established so that the then came to Gentofte where Vølund and the first big issue was the way in ascended. flue gas, when emitted from the stack of the incineration plant, is light and free of solid matter’.

Horse-drawn wagons at Aarhus incineration plant. The wagons were taken up and down by lifts. Festive inauguration On 24 August 1934 the plant was officially inaugurated. In the evening there was a banquet at Hotel Royal. For this occasion a popular Danish newspaper poet wrote:

No w w a s t e i s g a t h e r e d e v e r y w h e r e a n d w i t h h o r s e a n d w a g o n b r o u g h t t o h e r e . Ag a i n s t t h i s a l l c o n s u m i n g f l a m e t h e h e a t o f He l l i s v e r y t a m e !

14 15 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

The plant in Aarhus was closed down in the 50s in connection with an exten- From Vølund to Babcock & Wilcox Vølund sion of the nearby power station, and the buildings were demolished. The waste was then composted until the municipality in 1978 inaugurated a A/S Vølund (A/S = Aktieselskab = Limited company) was companies in Aarhus and Copenhagen. When the amuse- new incineration plant (see photo on founded in 1898 on the basis of F.A.H. Petersen & Ludvig ment park of in Copenhagen had to be reestablished p. 21). Consequently, they celebrated Christensen’s Machine Factory & Iron Foundry. The com- after the war, they wanted a ferris wheel, which was then their 25th anniversary in 2003. pany was given its name after Vølund – the ingenious smith designed by Rambøll and supplied by Vølund. – a Nordic mythical character in the Elder Edda. In , Vølund opened a factory for the production At the beginning the company primarily produced heat- of incineration plants, boilers, iron structures etc. Around ing systems and steam laundries, for instance to the State 1960 the company expanded its production of washing University Hospital in Copenhagen, which was established machines. This activity was later divested, but the brand in the period of 1907-10. In 1910 Vølund started making continues to exist under the name of Asko Vølund. crude oil engines for marine propulsion. Later it produced steam drums and iron structures for, for instance, Forum Around 1980 the company was divided into sections. The His Majesty King Christian X (in the grey – a cultural centre in Copenhagen, which was originally waste treatment part was transferred to Vølund Ecology suit in the photo) visited the plant in Aarhus on 14 August 1934. To the right built for a car exhibition in 1926 and for many years hosted Systems, whereas the responsibility for the boiler part of the King is the Mayor of Aarhus, H.P. the annual bicycle-race, one of Copenhagen’s flag ship was assigned to Vølund Energy Systems and Vølund Christensen. events. In the following years Vølund constructed a bridge Danstoker. In 1992 the Italian industrial group of Ansaldo connecting Copenhagen with the island of and acquired these companies. supplied steam boilers for e.g. Tuborg Breweries. Today, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund is further developing In the 30s the company supplied the three incineration Vølund’s long-standing expertise in waste incineration. plants in Gentofte, Frederiksberg and Aarhus, ‘the first Since 2002 the company has also owned B&S’s W grate continuously operating incineration plants in the world’. technology (see separate box on p. 21). Before the Second World War, Vølund produced both Vø l u nd – an Estab l is h ed Su p p l ier horse-drawn wagons and motor-driven vehicles for the Including B&S’s plants, Vølund’s list of references includes collection of waste. 300 incineration units. When measured in this way, the With the three plants in Denmark as The guarantee for the plant in company is the largest company of its kind in the world, and well as three plants in the UK and one Frederiksberg was based on the After the war the company supplied the boiler for the the list covers countries as distant as Argentina and Taiwan. in Sweden, Vølund had established assumption that the calorific value utility plant of Vestkraft in Esbjerg, , and in the 50s Almost 100 units have been supplied to Denmark, 55 to itself as a supplier of waste incinera- would be 1200 kcal/kg = 5.0 MJ/kg. large tank installations were produced for petrol and oil Japan, 39 to France, 33 to Sweden and 17 to the USA. tion plants. Thanks to the company’s other activi- In 1933 and 1936 the company pub- ties, it had become a significant com- lished articles in English in Danish pany in the iron and metal industries, Foreign Office Journal with a presen- which from time to time put up leader

tation of particularly the Danish plants. candidates for the industrial unions In april 1921 Vølund moved into their The following table containing key and whose opinions could not be dis- former head office at Øresundsvej in plant data is from the 1936 article. regarded. Copenhagen.

Table 1: Key plant data for the plants in Aarhus, Frederiksberg and Gentofte Plant No. of units Capacity/furnace, t/h Steam Steam Guaranteed pressure temperature steam product. Guaranteed Achieved bar °C kg/kg waste Aarhus 2 6.25 10 30 425 1.0 Vølund-manufactured Frederiksberg 2 6.0 9 12 190 1.0 waste collection vehicle from the beginning Gentofte 2 4.0 7 16 350 0.9 of the 50s.

16 17 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

Wh atever Ha p p ened to Co p en h a g en ? Th e German Occ u p ation 1940-45 And Th e Post -war Era

In Copenhagen the power stations Shortly before the outbreak of the be ignited without some prior heat- wooden wheels, which had pneu- started to supply district heating to the Second World War Vølund entered ing in the furnaces. Eventually, even matic tyres (temporarily partly steel inhabitants in 1925, and Vølund fol- a contract for a plant in Basle, dry green waste from cemeteries was framed)’. lowed up on its success in Gentofte, Switzerland. The German Occupation applied as kindling …’ Frederiksberg and Aarhus. According of Denmark on 9 April 1940 cut off to the 25th anniversary book of connections, and the plant had to be I/S Vestforbrænding, which was pub- completed by a Swiss company, which No more than 10°C in L.A.B.’s refuse salvagers lished in 1995, Vølund ‘offered in later developed into vonRoll Umwelt- churches and cinemas Unemployment in the 30s was high. 1935 – free of charge – to build and technik, which is a well-known com- In its 75th anniversary book from When the Second World War broke operate for six years an incineration pany today. 1973 Vølund writes: ‘During the war out in 1939, many people thought that plant located on a site to be made a palpable shortage of materials natu- unemployment would increase even available by the Municipality. This Denmark soon encountered a shortage rally prevailed, but we succeeded in further, and therefore L.A.B. – the – apparently philanthropic – offer of almost all imported goods such as maintaining our production by making National Society for the Combating was not accepted as it was estimated fuel and rubber. Substitutes had to be various changes such as the introduc- of Unemployment – was established that a collaboration with a private found. Two domestic materials began tion of peat gasworks and stationary in order to prepare for the end of the incineration plant operated under the to be used, lignite and peat. Copen- generators. The strict fuel restrictions war and massive unemployment. conditions made by Vølund would be hagen Energy provides a fine descrip- also had a great impact on the com- un-economical for the Municipality… tion of the situation: pany’s production – also with the sale ‘By the end of April 1940 L.A.B. Moreover, the City Council wanted to of the production in the heat techni- had the first refuse salvagers in reclaim new urban areas by landfill- ‘[On 9 April 1940] H.C. Ørsted Værket cal department. The products of this the streets, because waste was no ing… and the waste in Copenhagen [power plant in Copenhagen] had coal department were not interesting in a longer just waste, but raw materials did not burst into flames until the two stored for approximately 5 months’ time when hot water supplies were that could be used for new produc- metropolitan incineration plants of consumption. It soon became neces- prohibited and an indoor temperature tion. For example, kitchen waste, Amagerforbrænding and Vestforbræn- sary to conserve the stocks by using of only 18°C – in museums, churches including beer slops from restau- ding were commissioned [in 1970]’. other fuels. Prospects of new coal and cinemas even only 10°C – was rants, was processed into swill. The supplies were poor, and it took a long allowed’. old pre-war scavenger who went The last statement is not entirely cor- time to establish domestic production Open-air burning of waste on a landfill. through the dustbins in his search rect. Until 1970 the Municipality of of peat and lignite. Rationing and other ‘schemes’ were for rags and bottles, was ousted Copenhagen disposed of its waste in introduced. The Rubber Committee by the L.A.B. man with his big car- a reclaimed area, and at the end of a There was no lack of inventiveness. of the Confederation of Danish In- rier cycle …’, writes the Danish day’s work, the waste was set on fire. Fly ash that had been applied for dustries called upon everybody to sell historian Erik Kjersgaard. land reclamation purposes was taken rubber waste to a product dealer or back and burned again as there was give it to a refuse salvager (see sep- still a small amount of coal in it that arate box). could be used. Copenhagen Energy’s reserves of waste oil, tar etc. were No data is available on the calorific all used. value of the waste incinerated during the war at the three existing incin- Tar waste etc. from cleaned gas pipes eration plants. However, the 1948 de- made a contribution. Trade and in- scription from Frederiksberg states: dustry supplied wastes such as wood, ‘In the period of 1942-47 it has been shaving and sawdust – everything necessary to remove peat ash prior capable of burning could be used. to incineration’ and goes on to say Peat in particular was a problem as that the waste collection wagons were it was often so moist that it could not ‘equipped with roller bearings in the The L.A.B. man on his carrier cycle.

18 19 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 1 . Th e Be g innin g

The calorific value of the waste in 1948 was around 1000 kcal/kg in the Waste gasworks in summer and around 1400 kcal/kg in the winter. It was therefore necessary, particularly in the summer, to use coal as an auxiliary fuel. In the beginning of the 60s experi- The first Danish coal gasworks was Vestforbrænding’s 25th anniversary ments with – what is today termed established in the city of in 1853, and in 1949 there were around 120 gasworks book states: ‘The incineration plants – pyrolysis of waste were made at nationwide. that existed during the occupation also the gasworks in the municipality of had to incinerate things other than Kolding. In 1937/38 the works converted coal in the amount of 665,000 tonnes into 266 million waste… In 1944 the resistance move- Nm3 of gas, 365,000 tonnes of coke, 32,000 ment started to remove national re- At the time the waste had a calorific tonnes of tar, 2,000 tonnes of ammonium gisters all over the country as they value of 1300 kcal/kg (=5.4 MJ/kg). sulphate and 1,500 tonnes of benzene. feared that the Germans would misuse The waste was heated to a tem- The gas was purified of hydrogen sulphide perature of 900-1000°C in a retort the registers… Thousands and thou- by marsh ore from the moors of Jutland sands of files were taken to Frederiks- by heavy fuel oil added in an amount before being distributed to the consumers through a network of cast iron pipes. The berg incineration plant and thrown During the German occupation waste salvaging was so well organised that there was of 100 g per kg of waste. This tem- coke had a calorific value of approxim- into the flames – causing the adminis- practically no incinerable waste left for the waste incineration plants. The sign on the perature was maintained for approxi- ately 25 MJ/kg and was applied for heating tration of the municipalities concerned vehicle in the photo says: ‘Waste is not a waste when the refuse salvagers get it’. mately eight hours. In the process Also note the gas generator in the front of the car. in private stoves or central heating units. a great deal of inconvenience.’ a gas amount of approximately 0.4 But since the ash content was around 10 Nm3 per kg of waste with a calorific per cent, a significant contribution to the amounts of household waste generated was paid off to repair things. Denmark tion”. More-over, they often contain value of 3500 kcal/Nm3 (=14.7 MJ/ made. However, it was difficult to ignite the 3 After the war had become a ‘use-and-throw-away’ unpleasant substances such as chlo- Nm ) was generated. coke so a great deal of kindling wood and The initial post-war period was a time society, and the calorific value of the rine and sulphur’. paper had to be applied. of deprivation. Many goods were still waste increased dramatically. The gas production turned out to be The photo below shows Kolding gasworks. highly dependent on the content of rationed. Vølund’s 75th anniversary Convenience goods were now pur- In the 60s experiments with waste-based book notes that ‘the post-war recon- Or, as expressed by Vølund’s Evald chased from the supermarket instead plastics in the waste, and it was sug- production of gas were made with a view to struction activities took up everybody’s Blach in 1968: ‘The waste composi- of from the small grocer’s shop, gested that the target should be to developing a waste gasworks. The photo on time and attention, so building “lux- tion reflects the way of life in society, and the numerous small dairies and produce a gas with the calorific value the left shows the construction of rafters for the waste gasworks. uries”, such as incineration plants, and … from the average composi- slaughterhouses were closed down and of 4200 kcal/Nm3 (=17.6 MJ/Nm3) was not really an option until well into tion you can even read the develop- replaced by larger, ‘central’ or ‘united’ typical of coal gas – by adding pro- the 50s’. ment and welfare state of that par- facilities. pane if need be. ticular society. The more developed By the end of the 50s the national econ- and wealthy a society, the better the The municipal power supply com- The process was called the Destrugas omy had improved, and women started waste. The density becomes smaller panies had already before the war process, and it was actually used for joining the labour force. This entailed and the calorific value higher as begun to recognise the advantages of a while in Kolding, in parallel with a radical change in family patterns, the percentage of combustible parts, large-scale operations and combined the coal gas production. Eventually which also had an impact particularly easily combustible parts to establish larger partnerships. It was the municipality of Kolding chose on the waste composi- with a short burnout time… increases no longer profitable to produce power incineration instead. Several other tion. The heavy milk substantially. decentrally even though this meant municipalities showed an interest in bottles were replaced that new power stations had to cool the process, but no full-scale plant by milk cartons, cotton The amount of slowly combustible away a significant part of the fuel was ever established. diapers by disposable parts such as coal and coke residues energy in condensing turbines. diapers, and a number is reduced… On the other hand, the In retrospect, the decision of the of new plastic products waste will contain the new synthetic Also the municipal gasworks began municipality of Kolding was probably were introduced. Racks materials with an often high calorific to disappear one by one. However, wise. In recent years, however, the with disposable paper value and a very short burnout time. in Kolding they fought in vain to pyrolysis and gasification processes waste bags replaced the In great amounts they may result preserve the city’s old gasworks as a have attracted renewed interest – Top photo: N. Lisberg, 1966. Photo from Kolding municipal archives. old dustbins. It no longer in an almost “explosive combus- waste gasworks. mostly in the UK. Bottom photo: Friis Fotografi.

20 21 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

2. Th e Br e a k -t h r o u g h Bruun & Sørensen A/S Bruun & Sørensen A/S (B&S) was founded in 1893 and turned into a limited company in 1937.

In 1960 the company formed a Thermal Department for the purpose of building waste incineration plants. In the period of 1960-67 the company applied a Swedish designed water-cooled forward movement grate, for which B&S purchased the rights. This type of grate could, however, only be used at plants with a capacity of up to 3.5 t/h, which is why the development of a new type 1963-1989 of grate was initiated. The first version of this air-cooled grate – the W grate – was constructed in 1968, and the W grate has been the distinctive feature of B&S and its successors ever since.

In the beginning of the 70s B&S took over A/S E. Rasmussen’s activities in the area of waste incineration (see pp. 20 and 23).

Albertslund district heating station. Architects: Friis & Moltke A/S. In the 80s B&S encountered pecuniary embarrassment, Incineration Re-emer g es in t h e 1960s The building previously housed an incineration plant, too. This part of the building is now used as a regional music and culture centre and the company was split into several parts. The com- called ‘Forbrændingen’ (The Incineration Plant). pany succeeded in maintaining its expertise within waste The difficult post-war economic situa- tions were fuelled with fuel oil, but pany of Plibrico) and Staalmontage, incineration, initially vested in the company of B&S tion had put an end to the development B&S realised that waste was a use- supplied plants to various Danish Miljøteknik A/S, later known as BS Miljøteknik A/S. This of incineration plants in Denmark, but ful, supplementary source of energy. municipalities. In some of these company was for some time in foreign hands, but was in Vølund’s expertise was upheld, thanks In 1963 a Swedish designed incin- plants the heat produced during incin- 1992 brought back home by Krüger A/S, which carried on to contracts in France, Sweden and eration furnace was supplied to the eration was not recovered. Therefore the business under the name of Krüger Waste Systems. In the USA. It was not until the 1960s municipality of in Jutland. the plants could be located in out-of- 1998 FLS miljø bought the activities, but sold it again in that the establishment of new plants However, soon B&S developed its the-way places and were typically 2002 to Babcock & Wilcox Vølund ApS. gathered momentum in Denmark. own type W grate system. operated in one shift, Monday to Friday. Staalmontage’s inter-munici- At that time a large number of new From 1965 to 1990 B&S signed new pal plant in near the west coast builtup areas – condescendingly called contracts for waste incineration plants of Denmark was situated on a down- dormitory towns – began to sprout, all over Denmark in rapid succession. ward slope. The waste was unloaded and the obvious thing to do was to Most of these plants were, however, on the floor in the reception hall and supply these areas with district heat- relatively small and few of them still pushed into the furnace by a loader ing instead of having an oil burner in exist. tractor. At the foot of the slope the each house. Growing environmental bottom ash was discharged. The un- awareness also favoured this solution. Furthermore, plants were supplied to cleaned and 1000°C hot flue gas was One of the companies that were very Torshavn on the Faroe Islands and emitted through a stack located on active in the district heating sector Nuuk in Greenland as well as to coun- top of the furnace. was Bruun & Sørensen A/S (B&S) in tries abroad, including Sweden. Aarhus, see separate box on p. 21. In the 80s the plant in Varde was Other Danish companies, including subjected to the first dioxin study per- Aarhus Nord incineration plant, 1978. Architects: Friis & Moltke A/S. Helsingør Jernskibs- og Maskinbyg- Danish Environmental The plant was given its original name (Aarhus North) due to the plans formed by the also to build a plant in the south end of the municipality. But instead, Herning was first geri, A/S E. Rasmussen (based on Protection Agency, see p. 30. a third unit extended Aarhus Nord in 1992, and a new unit 4 will be Originally, these district heating sta- technology from the American com- ready in 2005. B&S W grate

22 23 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark

Vølund develops a new plant Sectional drawing of So Vølund was up against fierce com- the incineration plant in , supplied by petition and was perhaps somewhat A/S E. Rasmussen. slow at acknowledging district heat- At this plant the flue gas ing rather than waste treatment as the was cleaned in a cyclone battery installed immedi- ticket to the market. In addition, Vø- ately before the stack. lund’s rotary kilns were too expensive for the relatively small plants that were in demand. Vølund therefore had to develop a plant without the rotary kiln.

Nordforbrænding 1969. From 1964 to 1992 Vølund supplied Architect: Finn Monies. a large number of plants in Denmark, and on the Faroe Islands the company supplied a plant in Leirvik.

In 1984 there was a total of 48 incin- A visit to three incineration plants of the 60s eration plants treating municipal solid waste in Denmark (see overleaf) as In 1967 as a young engineer, Søren Dalager, one side of each furnace there is an oil burner … The plant had been out of operation for some time in the morning, well as the three plants on the Faroe Vølund’s step grate at a small plant. The furnace and boiler are partly inter-connected. employed by A/S Dansk Shell (the Danish which is why the combustion efficiency was poor during Islands and in Greenland. The Danish branch of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group), plants incinerated a total of 1.55 mil- the visit (pieces of paper passed through the furnace in an lion tonnes of waste in 1982. Below: The incineration plant in Leirvik, located in majestic surroundings. visited three quite new incineration plants in uncombusted form). In the summer, one unit is operated , Fredericia and Herning supplied in two shifts, while in the heating season both units are in by A/S Vølund, A/S E. Rasmussen and Bruun operation eight hours a day’. & Sørensen A/S, respectively. The following Herning: are extracts from his report from the visits: ‘The plant had been established in the building freeze period [economic measure to counteract inflation]. It was therefore necessary to install the plant in an old building, Haderslev: which had previously housed Herning gasworks. As this ‘The incineration plant is located near the scenic inlet of building did not allow room for a waste pit, a pit was estab- Haderslev. Therefore a great effort has been made to make lished in an adjacent building, and a conveyor was then the building look good. Presently, there is only one unit installed to fill the chute… This was not very rational and with a capacity of 3.5 t/h, but allowance has been made aesthetic, and it was even a labour-intensive solution as two for a second unit. The unit consists of three inclined grates workers were required to load sacks onto the conveyor. The (drying grate, combustion grate and burnout grate). The unit has a capacity of 3 t/h. This unit also has an oil burner, bottom ash [slag] is used as filling material, while the flue gas applied when the waste is particularly wet. During the visit is cooled in a boiler and sent through cyclones to the stack. the temperature in the furnace was higher than 1000°C… In The stabilising oil burner is located on one of the walls in the the period of 1 April 1966 to 31 March 1967 the plant was in furnace, above the drying grate, but it is hardly ever used … operation for 2550 hours with only 19 hours of outages’. Currently, the plant is in operation eight hours on Mondays and Fridays and 14-16 hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays The report concludes and Thursdays… The initial investment was DKK 5.7 million ‘At all three plants the calorific value of the waste is esti- [~EUR 760,000]. The plant is operated by two staff’. mated at 1800-1900 kcal/kg [=7.5-8 MJ/kg], and as the efficiency is around 60 per cent, approximately 1100 kcal/kg Fredericia: is recovered. The plants are not equipped with any magnetic ‘This incineration plant consists of two identical units, each iron separators. The major part of the iron contained in the with a capacity of 2.3 t/h. A stoker moving in strokes every waste is annealed in the furnace to such an extent that it three minutes conveys the waste through the furnace. At easily disintegrates at the landfill’.

24 25 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

production, initially in a new unit 4 and Amagerforbrænding later by upgrading units 1-3, where- as Vestforbrænding did not become a combined heat and power plant and Vestforbrænding until unit 5 was commissioned in 1998. Vølund also supplied this unit, but this As in other parts of the country the lack Initially, only the birds profited from the time without the rotary kiln. The plant of landfill capacity was a pressing prob- production of heat at Vestforbrænding, was the first plant in Denmark to have

lem in Greater Copenhagen. Without but in 1972 the company landed a a DeNOX process: SNCR and a lime-

any luck, three municipalities applied big contract for the supply of heat to stone scrubber for the removal of SO2. for connection to Frederiksberg incin- Hospital. Furthermore, a dis- Currently, yet another combined heat eration plant in 1960, and another trict heating network supplying heat and power producing unit – unit 6 – is municipality investigated sites for the to more than 60,000 inhabitants was under construction at Vestforbrænding. establishment of a new plant. When established in two adjacent munici- Amagerforbrænding. the municipality of Copenhagen also palities. All surplus heat is today sold The two plants have a standing co- Architect: Jørgen Maglebye. began to take an interest in the matter, to CTR and the heating transmission operation in many fields. They have, The first inter-municipal plants it became clear to everybody that they company in the western suburban area for instance, joint ownership of the Incineration plants had to think big. of Copenhagen called VEKS. landfill of AV Miljø where two differ- in Denmark in 1984 The plant in Hørsholm north of Copen- hagen was Denmark’s first inter- ent types of flue gas cleaning residues municipal incineration plant. In January To make a long story short, the two The flue gases were cleaned in elec- have been landfilled for a period of 1965 a partnership was formed between partnerships were eventually estab- trostatic precipitators before they were time: fly ash + hydroxide sludge from five municipal and parish councils to lished in 1965, each with the primary emitted through the stack, which is Vestforbrænding and the residues from establish and operate Hørsholm Incin- purpose of establishing an incineration 150 m tall at both plants. In 1977, the semi-dry flue gas treatment system eration Plant and District Heating plant. Vestforbrænding was extended by unit at Amagerforbrænding. Station. In the 70s the name was 4, which has a capacity of 14 t/h, changed to I/S Nordforbrænding (I/S = The Municipality of Copenhagen was but is otherwise similar to units 1-3. In 1975 the Municipality of Frederiks- Interessentskab = Partnership). a partner to both companies and later When environmental regulations in berg acknowledged that the time had became a waste supplier for them, too. 1986 required an upgrading of the flue come to close down the old incinera- In July 1965 I/S Amagerforbrænding gas treatment systems, the two plants tion plant from 1934, and the Munici- and I/S Vestforbrænding were founded It soon became clear that Vølund were expected to choose the same pality became a partner of I/S Amager- (see separate box), and the three first would supply the process equipment solution: semi-dry flue gas treatment. forbrænding. inter-municipal waste management for the two plants, while Rambøll & But in 1989 Vestforbrænding chose a companies had now been created. The Hannemann (see separate box) would wet system instead. As the first plant Vestforbrænding’s partnership has three companies copied the organisation act as consulting engineers. In terms of in Denmark, Amagerforbrænding en- been extended several times and today that had already been applied in utility process equipment the two plants were gaged in combined heat and power includes 29 municipalities. companies. Since then, this organisa- initially identical. They both consisted tion has successfully been applied by a of three units with rotary kilns, each number of other inter-municipal waste with a capacity of 12 t/h. However, the management companies in Denmark. two companies chose different archi- tects. As a result, the plants look very different. Disposal of bottom ash With the commissioning of the two large Amagerforbrænding was connected to Copenhagen plants of Amagerforbræn- the district heating network of Copen- ding and Vestforbrænding the Danish hagen Energy, but could originally only incineration capacity almost doubled. sell the heat generated in the winter. This, however, also entailed a corres- Today, all of the heat produced at ponding increase in the amount of bot- the plant is sold to the Metropolitan tom ash generated. On the issue of bot- Copenhagen Heating Transmission Vestforbrænding seen from the ground and from the air. tom ash management, see separate box. Company – known as CTR. Architects: Poul Kjærgaard (buildings); Ole Nørgaard (park).

26 27 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

Rambøll Bottom ash Th e Po l l u tion Board and t h e Environmenta l Protection Act The consulting engineering company In 1992 the company merged with the management of Rambøll & Hannemann (R&H) was consulting engineering company of B. ‘From the beginning of time man has During the 60s, people became more A very unorthodox step was the publi- founded in 1945 by Professor DEng Højlund Rasmussen A/S founded by produced waste, but in primitive so- and more environmentally aware. cation of a pamphlet on waste incine- Børge Johannes Rambøll (born 1911) DEng Bent Højlund Rasmussen (1918- cieties it was not a problem to get rid Maybe the Danish Academy of Tech- ration, in which the board recommend- and Professor DEng Johan Georg 1987) in 1951. of it. This is attested by the kitchen nical Sciences (ATV) was instrumen- ed a reduction of the emission of dust, Hannemann (1907-1980). middens generated by the people of tal in this development. By the end HCl and SO2 to 150, 600 and 1500 Since 1995 the merged company has the Stone Age’. of the 50s, ATV had a Fish Odour mg/Nm3, respectively. It was not well Originally, Rambøll & Hannemann was traded under the name of Rambøll and Automatic bottom ash container system Committee. In 1962 the Smoke Com- received by all parties: ‘How can you at Nordforbrænding. first and foremost a civil engineering has developed into one of Denmark’s mittee was established, and in 1963 regulate on the basis of a pamphlet?!’ company, but gradually its activities largest consulting engineering com- This is the introduction of Vestfor- the Industrial Wastewater Committee In its leading article, the periodical have extended to include e.g. oil panies. In 2002 approximately 20% of brænding’s 25th anniversary book from Previously the disposal of waste itself saw the light of day. The latter devel- published by the Society of Danish and gas, energy and environment, its turnover originated from activities 1995, which contains vivid descriptions was the problem, but now the bottom oped into VKI (Institute for the Water Engineers called it ‘emission of hot telecommunications, traffic planning, abroad. of the waste situation in times past. ash had become the problem. ‘When Environment), which is today part of air’. However it served as a guideline information technology and manage- After a cholera epidemic in Denmark in Vestforbrænding was commissioned, it DHI Water & Environment (Danish until 1986. ment. Part of the international turnover is the 1850s it was clear that waste could had not yet been decided what to do Hydraulic Institute). At the grass roots generated by projects at waste incin- not just be disposed of in the streets, with the 60,000 tonnes of bottom ash level Danish Anglers’ Federation and As civil engineers the company was eration plants in, for instance, , but had to be collected and landfilled. generated at the plant annually… A NOAH (the Danish section of Friends First Minister soon assigned projects for incineration Bergen and Trondheim in Norway; convenient intermediary solution was of the Earth International) were ex- of the Environment plants, but it was not until the estab- Malmö, Halmstad and Uppsala in Although this method of treatment to create decoratively planted embank- amples of active environmentalists, In the autumn of 1971 the Social lishment of Vestforbrænding in the Sweden; Wasa in Finland; the Isle removed the waste from the streets, ments from bottom ash… blocking whereas Greenpeace did not emerge Democrats returned to power, and late 60s that the company’s consulting of Man and Guernsey; Budapest in it only shifted the problem from one the view from the adjacent recrea- until 1980. Denmark had its first Minister of the expertise within the field of process Hungary; Moscow and Murmansk in place to another. The residual amount tional areas to the giant incineration Environment or Minister of Pollution equipment for incineration plants was Russia; Cairo in Egypt; Hong Kong of waste continued to be 1000 kg plant. However, one day the embank- The Liberal government in power at the Control as he was called at the time. founded. Since then, this activity has and Taiwan. per tonne of waste. As previously ments were finished, and then the huge time had to do something and therefore The new Minister immediately set out developed to such an extent that mentioned, this caused problems to amounts of bottom ash had to be taken set up the Pollution Board in 1970. In a to prepare an up-to-date Environmental Rambøll has today assumed a leading After the acquisition in 2003 of the Frederiksberg 100 years ago and to elsewhere’. Initially the bottom ash was matter of just two years the board pro- Protection Act, and in April 1972 the position in Denmark and is a significant Swedish company of Scandiaconsult, Gentofte and Aarhus in the 30s, which disposed of in a nearby forest, later on duced 31 reports, including one on air Danish Environmental Protection consultant in this field internationally. founded in 1947, Rambøll has become is why these municipalities started to it was landfilled at AV Miljø. pollution from waste incineration. Agency was established. Incineration has therefore become a the largest consulting engineering incinerate the waste. If the Second core activity in the company. company in with more World War had not broken out, this Generally, the bottom ash residue than 4000 employees and 70 offices development would have continued, from waste incineration had become a worldwide. but instead it was postponed for a waste problem that required a solution period of approximately 25 years. involving recycling – without posing a threat to the groundwater. A solution Incineration reduces the volume of was provided in the Bottom Ash Order waste by 90 per cent and the weight of 1983, which made it possible on by 80 per cent, but the waste does not certain conditions to apply (screened) disappear altogether. There is still a bottom ash in construction works. residue of 200 kg per tonne of waste Whether the order was too liberal or in the form of bottom ash. The resi- not, it was replaced by a new order due was originally taken to filling sites in 2000. Previously, the total content – a term that is no longer found in of lead, cadmium and mercury was in Danish environmental law. From 1974 focus, but now the leaching properties onwards waste, including bottom ash, of these and other substances have could no longer be disposed of at such become the decisive factor in deter- Rambøll has been a consultant to the majority of incineration plants in Denmark as well as a large number of plants abroad. One of the company’s international references is a sites, but had to be taken to ‘sanitary mining the purposes for which the bot- It took a long time to formulate the new Environmental Protection Act, which was not new plant in the Isle of Man. landfills’ – or recycled. tom ash can be applied. adopted by the Danish Parliament until June 1973 and entered into force on 1 October 1974.

28 29 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

Kommunekemi Th e Ener g y Crises of 1973 and 1979

– the first treatment plant for It took some time to formulate the new After fuel, as the last commodity, had … and natural gas Environmental Protection Act, which been taken off the post-war ration In early 1979 ‘The Islamic Republic hazardous waste in Denmark was not adopted until June 1973 and in 1953, Denmark did not have any of Iran’ was proclaimed. This entailed entered into force on 1 October 1974. actual energy policy and even stopped a decrease in the oil production and Kommunekemi A/S was founded on closed down after the establishment Quick results were therefore called recording statistical energy data after a steep rise in oil prices. The second 18 November 1971. It was decided of Unit III. for, so 1972 saw the adoption of, for 1968. The market forces ruled, and oil energy crisis had set in. to establish the company on a site instance, the Act on the Disposal of Oil was in demand to such a degree that adjacent to a tar works (today trad- • Unit III: supplied by Widmer + and Chemical Waste, which authorised 92 per cent of Denmark’s energy con- In Denmark one of the outcomes of ing under the name of TARCO) in the Ernst, Switzerland, in 1982. This the Minister to stipulate more detailed sumption in 1973 was based on oil. the crisis was that later on that year it hope of being able to exploit the tar unit was equipped with a semi-dry rules on the collection and treatment of was decided to bring ashore natural works’ already existing process equip- flue gas treatment system from A/S these types of waste. The background When the Arabian oil sheikhs in gas from the Danish part of the North ment, e.g. for the processing of waste Niro Atomizer and was therefore was a wish set forth by the munici- October 1973 suddenly cut back oil Sea and eventually also crude oil. oil to fuel oil. However, waste products the first plant in Denmark with treat- palities to establish Kommunekemi A/S supplies, it came as a shock to Western Although Denmark in time became that could not be handled by the tar ment facilities for acidic gases (HCl, (see separate box). Europe. In Denmark, the first step was self-sufficient in energy, the high level HF and SO works started flocking at the gate of 2). In 1986 the unit was to call for oil savings immediately. It of taxation remained. However, the Due to the energy crisis it was forbidden Kommunekemi. Consequently, Kom- equipped with a turbine/generator, was now forbidden to drive a car on market for natural gas was a bit slug- to drive a car on Sundays in the period munekemi had to establish its own making Kommunekemi a combined The approval scheme Sundays, and all unnecessary con- gish, and the regional gas companies from 25 November 1973 to 10 February 1974. One was however allowed to drive treatment facilities. heat and power plant. An important part of the Environmen- sumption of power had to be avoided sank deeper and deeper into debt. on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New tal Protection Act was Part V: Heavily – also during Christmas sales in 1973. Consequently, the energy policy had to Years Day as these non-working days were The history of Kommunekemi’s es- • Unit IV: supplied by A/S Vølund in Polluting Enterprises. According to ‘Now Denmark is put on the back be adjusted several times, for instance on weekdays. Motorists came to terms with tablishment and extension is well doc- 1989. The unit was from the outset the situation, while pedestrians and cyclists section 35 such enterprises ‘shall not burner’, read a slogan. by a combined heat and power scheme enjoyed the peace and quiet that had umented in its 20th and 25th anniver- a combined heat and power-pro- be established or commenced without in 1986 and an action plan called suddenly descended on the country. sary books, but in brief the company ducing unit. prior approval’. This rule also applied Energy 2000 in 1990. Photo: Polfoto has had four incineration units: to extensions of existing enterprises Promotion of subject to the stipulations laid down district heating … • Unit I: supplied by vonRoll, In 1994 an EU Directive on the in Part V. A long-term energy policy had to be Combined heat and power in Greater Copenhagen Switzerland, in 1975. Incineration of Hazardous Waste was developed, and in 1976 the Danish adopted. Kommunekemi therefore Consequently, as from 1 October 1974 Energy Agency was established. At • Unit II: special unit for the incinera- had to upgrade the flue gas treat- all new incineration units had to have first the policy focused on reducing tion of halogenous waste, supplied ment systems of Units III and IV. New an environmental approval. The plants dependency on oil and increasing the by Celloco AB, Sweden, in 1974. wet systems supplied by FLS miljø that were already in operation were supply reliability. The power stati- This unit was not a success and was did this. assumed to already have an approval ons were requested to reconvert to in compliance with previous legisla- coal firing, and large district heating Kommunekemi and Tarco in , situated close to the bridge across the . tion. According to Section 36, the networks, including CTR and VEKS Minister could require certain existing in the metropolitan area, were estab- enterprises to submit an application for lished in order to ensure the greatest an environmental approval. Section possible exploitation of the surplus 44 enabled the authorities to order the heat generated at the local power adoption of anti-pollution measures. stations.

However, the approval provided legal The incineration plants also benefited protection against such orders. The from the new energy policy as it be- legal protection period was initially came easier to sell district heating. unlimited, but an amendment to the act When taxes on oil and later coal for

in 1986 limited the period to eight years heat supply purposes were introduced, District heating transmission in Greater Copenhagen. Note the four waste incineration in general, for waste incineration plants the plants could raise their – untaxed plants: Vestforbrænding, Amagerforbrænding, KARA and VEGA and the sludge incine- – as from 1988 – to just four years. – heat prices correspondingly. ration plant at the wastewater treatment plant of Lynetten. Source: VEKS

30 31 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

Th e Dioxin Debate Auxiliary burners As mentioned elsewhere the logical It was not until the issue of Order The guideline refrained from setting thing to do was to equip the plants Guideline no. 3/1986 no. 162 of 11 March 2003 (transpos- an emission limit for dioxin, but sug- established in the 60s with auxiliary ing EU Directive 2000/76/EC) that gested such a limit to be set in 1991. burners, but as the calorific value incre- The requirements for new plants Denmark introduced an emission limit However, it never materialised. In the ased, they became more and more included: The flue gas shall have a value for dioxin from waste incinera- meantime the Danish Environmental superfluous. Yet Guideline no. 3/1986 2-second retention time at tempera- tion plants. This is an odd contradic- Protection Agency had carried out made the requirement that new plants tures higher than 875°C. In order tion with the fact that dioxin had been yet another – this time very compre- should be equipped with at least three to meet this requirement the plants on everyone’s lips since the beginning hensive – dioxin study, which was auxiliary burners. In compliance with shall be equipped with a minimum of the 80s whenever the conversation reported in 1989. The conclusion was this requirement VEGA – a plant in the of three auxiliary burners. turned to waste incineration. that the dioxin emission from waste This photo taken around 1970 shows an incineration plant in (The Skaw) on the suburbs of Copenhagen – was equip- The Guideline established limit most northern tip of Jutland. The plant did not recover the energy produced and was incineration plants was in the order ped with such burners. Since their values for the emission of CO, dust, The debate initially lead to the first of 34 g/year TEQ, i.e. far less than therefore located in a remote area. As can be seen, the ‘afterburning zone’ was located on top of the stack. Plants of this type were targeted by Guideline no. 3/1986 issued by the application was problematic, and they HCl, HF, SO , Pb, Cd and Hg to the 2 dioxin study carried out by the Danish reported from the 1984 study. Danish Environmental Protection Agency. However, the Municipality oaf Skagen prevented were soon dismantled with the super- air and as far as the latter three were Environmental Protection Agency in any intervention as in 1979 it replaced the plant shown by a new, still existing, district heat- vising authorities’ blessing. concerned also to water. In addition, 1984. The study took place at the plant ing producing incineration plant supplied by B&S. the requirements for instrumenta- EU directives in Varde, and on this basis the total The Danish Environmental Protection tion, monitoring and reporting beca- Incineration becomes Danish emission from waste incinera- Furthermore, the EU had in 1989 Agency’s dioxin study from 1989 made me more stringent. The goals were environmentally accepted tion was estimated at 500 g/year, cal- issued two directives on air pollu- total number of plants in Denmark the recommendation that the require- the same for the existing plants, but culated as Toxic Equivalents (TEQ). tion from municipal waste incinera- The other existing plants took on decreased to approximately 30. ment should be reassessed, and in they should be achieved in three tion plants. These were transposed in the challenge of complying with Guideline no. 2/1993 the requirement phases: Denmark by an order in early 1991. the new requirements. The standard As a consequence of the new emis- was taken out. In the meantime the Requirement for In practice it was therefore the order significantly improved, and incin- sion limit values for dust and HCl two (old) EU directives from 1989 had 1. As from 1 January 1988: environmental approval that determined the third phase in the eration became generally accepted etc. the flue gas treatment also had become effective. The directives stipu- Not more than one start-up a week, Even though this estimate was sub- upgrading of the existing plants, cf. as an environmentally friendly waste to be upgraded. The upgrading led to lated the use of auxiliary burners, but unless auxiliary burners have been ject to considerable uncertainty, the box on the left-hand side. treatment method. Although a few the production of new residues at the the Danish Environmental Protection installed. Continuous recording of, Danish Environmental Protection new plants were established, the incineration plants. Agency managed to find a ‘shrewd’ for example, the afterburning tem- Agency found that the sector had to be The most debated requirement in the wording requiring that only green-field perature, excess air and CO. ‘If by upgraded, so in September 1985 a new order was the one requiring auxiliary plants should install auxiliary burners. June 1988 the plant cannot comply order was issued. Under the provisions burners (see separate box). with a CO concentration … of max. of section 36 of the Environmental In 1994 the European Commission 200 mg/Nm3 as the daily average Protection Act, the order stipulated Guideline no. 3/1986 was replaced by published its first draft of the inci- value, it has to be closed down or that all existing, not yet environmen- Guideline no. 2/1993 on the limita- neration directive. This directive also upgraded by June 1989’. tally approved waste incineration tion of pollution from incineration required auxiliary burners, but thanks plants should submit an application for plants. to determined lobbying, also by 2. As from 1 June 1989: an approval by the end of 1986. For Danish organisations, the final version ‘The CO content of the flue gas … administrative purposes the Danish The three phases for compliance forced of the directive – and hence the Danish may not exceed 200 mg/Nm3 as the Environmental Protection Agency some of the existing plants to imme- order – contains an exemption clause. daily average value, 750 mg/Nm3 issued a guideline (no. 3/1986) on diately close down, while others man- as the 10-minute average value and the limitation of pollution from waste aged to survive phases 1 and 2 and 1000 mg/Nm3 as the one-minute incineration plants. then closed down. average value’.

3. As from 1 June 1991: The plants shall comply with the same requirements as those made Interior of Nordforbrænding, 1969. In the front there are two multi-cyclone systems for the treatment of flue gases. In the mid-70s, electrostatic precipitators replaced the multi-cyclo- for new plants. nes, and in 1987 completely new, dry flue gas treatment systems with lime reactors and Dioxin molecule. Source: PVC Information Council, Denmark. bag house filters were installed. Start-up and auxiliary burner.

32 33 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 2 . Th e Break -t h ro u g h

Flue gas treatment at Danish incineration plants Residues from flue gas treatment

No information is available on the Removal of HCl was not required until the HCl separated in a wet system is As mentioned elsewhere even the amounts of chloride and heavy metals ciple of proximity, i.e. that waste shall flue gas treatment at Denmark’s first the issue of the above-mentioned discharged in the form of a saline solu- plants from the 30s were equipped leached from both types of waste. be disposed of as close to its origin as incineration plant in Frederiksberg, but Guideline no. 3/1986. Initially the tion. Consequently, the wet processes with some kind of fly ash collector. Therefore landfilling of such residues possible. If this is not possible, then the three plants from the 30s were plants chose dry (typically the former result in a somewhat smaller amount Initially, the fly ash was mixed with in Denmark has been banned. Instead the waste can be exported subject equipped with a kind of deflecting sep- Fläkt’s Dry Absorption System, DAS) of solid residues per tonne of waste the bottom ash, but in accordance the residues are exported as a filling to permission by the environmental arators for the removal of the fly ash. The or semi-dry (typically FLS miljø’s GSA incinerated than the dry/semi-dry proc- with Guideline no. 3/1986 issued by material for underground German salt authorities of the recipient coun- plants established in the 60s were typi- process) solutions in which HCl reacts esses. the Danish Environmental Protection mines or to the island of Langøya in the try. Export of residues from flue gas cally equipped with cyclone batteries with hydrated lime added in dry or Agency this was forbidden. Fly ash Oslo Fiord in Norway where they are treatment is handled by e.g. Dansk or multi-cyclones, while the plants from in an aqueous suspension. The reac- In 1994 the European Commission became a separate residue generated used to neutralise acidic waste. These RestproduktHåndtering, DRH (Danish the 70s, starting with Amagerforbræn- tion products are collected together issued its first draft of what eventu- in quantities of approximately 20 kg applications imply a certain degree of Residue Handling). ding and Vestforbrænding, had elec- with the fly ash in a subsequent bag ally became Directive 2000/76/EC of per tonne of waste incinerated. recovery. trostatic precipitators. house filter. An environmental off-spin 4 December 2000 on the incineration Both DRH, DHI (Danish Hydraulic

of these processes is that SO2 is also of waste. This directive stipulates more At the same time the Guideline Export of waste is subject to the EU’s Institute) and Vølund have developed The relatively small plants that were separated to a level far below the emis- stringent emission limit values for the required cleaning of the flue gas of, regulation on shipments of waste. methods for treating residues, but a full-

without energy recovery, however, did sion limit values stipulated in Guideline substances that were already subject for instance, HCl and SO2. If this treat- One of its cornerstones is the prin- scale plant has yet to be established. not have any kind of flue gas treat- no. 3/1986 and the two EU directives to limit values and new limit values ment is effected by applying the dry

ment. This was one of the primary of 1989. A disadvantage, however, is for e.g. dioxin and NOX. As a conse- or semi-dry systems (see separate reasons why they were closed down in the production of quite a large quan- quence of the conversion to combined box on flue gas treatment), a residue Sanitary landfill of AV Miljø, which is jointly owned and operated the 70s or 80s. tity of hygroscopic and alkaline solid heat and power production (see pp. consisting of fly ash and solid reaction by Amagerforbrænding and Vestforbrænding. residues that have to be disposed of. 34-35) quite a large number of plants products (calcium chloride from the Niro Atomizer, which had supplied a were contracted after 1994 and these separation of HCl and calcium sul-

plant for Kommunekemi (see separate were all immediately designed to com- phite/sulphate from the SO2 removal) box) did not pursue this new develop- ply with the dioxin requirement. The as well as surplus lime is produced.

ment in time as in the autumn of 1985 newest plants comply with the NOX The total amount is approximately 30 the company sold its rights to its spray requirements too. The dioxin treat- kg per tonne of waste. absorption system to Fläkt, which then ment consists in the addition of acti- – together with Vølund – supplied four vated carbon or Herdofen coke in a In the wet treatment system the fly systems to Amagerforbrænding. bag house filter or a special scrubber ash is removed separately, HCl is Electrostatic precipitator, Vestforbrænding designed by the French company of transferred to the scrubber water, Around 1990 wet treatment methods LAB. Today, the very limited number of and during neutralisation hydroxide

started attracting attention. In such plants that reduce NOX emissions have sludge is formed, which is dewatered systems the fly ash is first separated in all chosen the SNCR process. or applied for moistening the fly ash.

an electrostatic precipitator and then If SO2 is removed, it is usually trans- the flue gas is washed with water in The EU directive was transposed into formed into gypsum. A total of 20-25 order to separate HCl. Today, some Danish legislation by Order no. 162 of kg of solid residues is generated per Danish plants have these two steps 11 March 2003 on plants incinerating tonne of waste, i.e. a smaller amount only, whereas others have installed an waste issued by the Danish Ministry of than in the dry/semi-dry system. Limestone scrubber, Vestforbrænding additional scrubber for the removal the Environment. In accordance with

of SO2 resulting in a gypsum residue. the Order, all existing plants have As mentioned elsewhere Amagerfor- Fläkt (today Alstom), FLS miljø (today to comply with the more stringent brænding and Vestforbrænding dis- F.L. Smidth Airtech), and Götaverken requirements by the end of 2004 (diox- posed of a semi-dry residue and a Miljö have supplied such plants. The in) and 2005 (the other requirements, mixture of ash and sludge, respective- water applied for HCl separation is although with certain exceptions), ly, at the sanitary landfill of AV Miljø. neutralised and cleaned of heavy met- respectively. This took place under extremely well- and subsequently discharged to controlled conditions, making it pos- the municipal sewer system or in a few On the issue of residues from flue gas sible to observe the formation of lea- Dioxin filter, Vestforbrænding cases directly to the recipient. Hence, treatment, see separate box. chate. As it turned out, considerable

34 35 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 3 . From District Heatin g to Combined Heat and Power

This challenge was taken up in diffe- rent ways. In Jutland some of the power 3. Fr o m Di s t r i c t He a t i n g supply companies chose to actively engage themselves in waste incine- ration by establishing new combined t o Co m b i n e d heat and power plants.

East of the Great Belt the already He a t a n d Po w e r existing incineration plants demon- strated the combined heat and power principle by establishing new CHP pro- ducing units e.g. at Amagerforbrænding, which established unit 4 in 1990 and later converted units 1-3 too.

Ener g y 2000

1990-2003 The 1986 combined heat and power scheme must be considered a success. In its plan of action called Energy 2000 the Danish Energy Agency therefore set the stage for the ‘encouragement of cogeneration of heat and power… the CHP Ag ain expansion should primarily be linked to district heating systems and other areas The energy producing incineration of consumption capable of using sur- plants commissioned in the period of plus heat’. The objective was to reduce 1963-89 all produced heat only. In power production at the large sea water 1986, the Danish Parliament arrived at cooled power plants. The Ministry of an energy policy compromise, which the Environment followed up on this required that a number of small-scale plan by announcing its intention to ban combined heat and power plants based the landfilling of incinerable waste. on domestic fuel and with a total capa- city of 450 MW should be established. As a consequence, in 1992-94, a num- This was meant as a demonstration ber of municipalities with district programme. heating plants, including incineration plants above a certain minimum capa- A report published by Dakofa (the city, received a so-called stipulatory Danish Waste Management Associ- letter from the Danish Energy Agency. ation) in 1988 noted that ‘the estab- In brief, the letter required the conver- lishment of combined heat and power sion from district heating production plants in major urban communities, to combined heat and power produc- where the majority of the waste inci- tion. neration capacity is also concentrated, makes it interesting to consider the This policy led to the establishment of

option of including waste incineration a further five new green-field plants, I/S KARA in the municipality of : New combined heat CHP plant in in Jutland, established in 1991. plants as combined heat and power seven new units and the upgrading of a and power plant commissioned in 1999. Architects: Boje Lundgaard and Lene Tranberg. base load units’. couple of existing plants. Consultant: Rambøll. Architect: Tage Nielsens Tegnestue.

36 37 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 3 . From District Heatin g to Combined Heat and Power

Ta x es and Subsidies Th e Pl ants of Today

In order to promote recycling, which and power production, a subsidy of Following the commissioning of ranks higher in the waste hierarchy, DKK 0.10 (~EUR 0.015) pr kWh for Denmark’s latest incineration plant in incineration and landfilling of waste power produced on the basis of re- Esbjerg on the western coast of Jutland, are taxed in Denmark. newable energy sources, biomass and Denmark now has 32 plants and four natural gas was introduced in 1992. In new units are under construction. In 1987 an – although modest – tax 1997 this subsidy was reduced to DKK of DKK 40 (~EUR 5.5) per tonne of 0.07 (~EUR 0.01) pr kWh, which is Of the approximately 30 combined waste incinerated or landfilled was still the case today. At the same time heat and power producing units pres- introduced. Later on this tax gradu- the incineration plants got prioritised ently existing in Denmark Vølund has ally increased to DKK 330 (~EUR 44) access to the power supply network supplied a little more than half, and and DKK 375 (~EUR 50) per tonne, pursuant to the law on power supply. BS/Krüger (now Vølund) has supplied respectively. Hence the power produced must be approximately one third. But in recent received by the network in accordance years also Swiss ABB W+E (today part Energy 2000 focused on the increasing with a differentiated tariff structure in of the German company of Martin)

emission of CO2 and the ensuing risk which the tariff depends on whether and German Steinmüller/Babcock of a greenhouse effect, so a number the electricity is produced in periods of Borsig Power Environment (now Fisia of the measures in the plan of action peak, high or low consumption. Babcock Environment) have entered

aimed at limiting the CO2 emission the Danish market. from the energy sector. In order to However, in 2003 the Danish Energy

enhance this objective a CO2 tax on Agency presented its plans to libera- The combined heat and power plants coal, oil and power was introduced lise the energy market. required a new type of boiler: the

in 1992/93. As an almost CO2 neutral steam boiler. Vølund was capable of

fuel, waste was exempt from the tax. In 1995 a new tax on SO2 emissions supplying such boilers itself, where- was introduced. It also included waste as B&S joined forces with When, on the other hand, the govern- incineration, and the latest initiative Industries and later on, when boil- ment wanted to support the conversion is a tax on ‘waste’ heat (i.e. heat pro- ers with a horizontal convection pass from district heating to combined heat duced from the incineration of waste). were in demand, with BWE. The steam parameters are typically 40 bar, 400°C. The steam turbines were supplied by

ABB (today Siemens), British W.H. Måbjergværket in in western Jutland. Architect: Torsten Riis Andersen. Allen (out of business) and German The plant does not only incinerate waste, but also straw. B+V Industrietechnik. The steam produced is superheated in natural gas fired superheaters before it is applied for combined heat and power production.

Increased demand for consultancy The complexity of the CHP plants required consultants to assist the plant owners in specifying, tendering, pro- curing, erecting and commissioning the plants. In addition, the environ- mental regulatory framework became more diverse, again calling for quali- fied consultants. Rambøll decided to

I/S FASAN’s incineration plant in Næstved. Architects: Gottlieb & Paludan, Arkitekter MAA. actively engage itself in this line of Waste pit and grab In the foreground Næstved CHP Plant can be seen. The plant was recently acquired business and soon became the leading at Vestforbrænding by FASAN. consultant. Conveyors and feeding of straw at Måbjergværket.

38 39 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 3 . From District Heatin g to Combined Heat and Power

Sønderborg combined are primarily in operation in periods heat and power plant. when the power consumption is high. The plant consists of a Then so much heat is produced that 9 t/h waste incineration part of it is stored in a heat accumu- unit and a combined lator. cycle gas turbine.

The waste incineration plant is located in the Incinerable waste long rounded building, must be incinerated while the gas and steam turbines are located in a Not until the political ‘biomass agree- (partly hidden) building ment’ in 1993 was it officially estab- behind the incineration lished ‘that the application of waste plant. The cylindrical tank on the right is the for combined heat and power pro- heat accumulator for the duction must continue to take prec- plant. edence over other kinds of fuel’. The Architects: agreement provided the clarity and Friis & Moltke A/S. certainty that were required to con- tinue the extension of combined heat and power production, and as from Great buildings call waste. The municipality of Elsinore 1 January 1997, as the first country for great architecture could have built a new incineration in the world, Denmark introduced a The conversion to combined heat and plant to replace the old one, but instead ban on the landfilling of incinerable power producing incineration plants ended up establishing a natural gas waste. The adoption of the EU landfill required quite large buildings. In a fired combined heat and power plant directive in 1999 was therefore not a flat country like Denmark they become and introduced source separation of problem for Denmark – at least not relatively visible to the surroundings. the waste at the same time. The green the part of the directive that makes Luckily, the sector has succeeded in waste was treated at a biogas plant the requirement that waste disposed engaging some of the leading architects (Nordsjællands Biogasanlæg) in Elsi- of at landfills has to undergo prior of the country for the structural design nore, while the residual waste was treatment (at for instance incineration of the plants, cf. text below photos. incinerated at a plant outside the plants). municipality. However, the biogas Another essential development is the plant was not a success and was closed In 2002 the Danish incineration increasingly extensive and sophisti- down in 1996. plants treated approximately 2.9 mil- cated automation of the plants, which lion tonnes of waste, correspond- has made it possible to operate the In some cases a compromise had to be ing to around 600 kg per capita. plants with a very limited staff. found. One plant therefore has natu- Hence, Denmark is competing with ral gas fired superheaters in order to Switzerland and Japan for being the Most of the plants are purely waste maximise power production, while country in the world that incinerates incineration plants, however some another has tried out reburning, i.e. the most waste per capita.

have separate oil or gas fired peak load NOX reduction by injection of natural boilers. A few plants do not have their gas. The price of natural gas is too Thanks to the massive political sup- own steam turbines, but sell the steam high for these ideas to have spread port to district heating the Danish Control and monitoring of the incineration to adjacent decentral combined heat to other plants. Other plants have in- incineration plants are able to sell the plants have naturally followed the techno- and power plants based on straw or stalled a gas turbine or a gas engine in entire amount of heat they produce logical development in general. natural gas. which the surplus heat is transformed almost all year round. The overall Top: into steam, which is led to a joint system is therefore characterised by a Control panel at Frederiksberg steam turbine for the waste and gas very high degree of energy efficien- incineration plant, 1934. Competition from natural gas parts of the plant. cy. The plants have become high- Bottom: Until 1993 natural gas, which is also technology energy works equipped L90 - waste incineration plant in Esbjerg. Control room at Vestforbrænding today. a domestic fuel, was a competitor to The gas turbines and gas engines with the best available technique. Architects: Friis & Moltke.

40 41 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 4 . Th e Fu t u re

4. Th e Fu t u r e Best available technique

What is the best available technique What is the best available technique for flue for thermal treatment of waste? gas treatment in waste incineration plants?

Waste is thermally treated either by adding sufficient When having to answer this question a number of issues amounts of air, whereby the waste is simply combusted that are difficult to rank in order of importance present resulting in completely burned out bottom ash and flue themselves. On a general level it should be considered fter gas, or by maintaining an air deficiency, whereby the whether the treatment should be a wet system, which A 2003 waste is pyrolised or gasified. In the latter case, the result generates wastewater, or a dry system in which wastewater is a partly burned gas, which can be sent on to a separate is avoided, but a larger amount of more leachable residues

incineration plant, e.g. a gas engine or, preferably, a gas is generated. If the wet system is chosen, should SO2 then

turbine for energy production. Potentially, the quantity of be removed by lime (CaCO3) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH)?

power produced per tonne of waste would be larger than In the former case the result is an emission of CO2, which

when applying the direct incineration method. However, corresponds to the removed emission of SO2, whereas in

depending on the circumstances, the gas is to some extent the latter case the emission of CO2 from the incineration Best Avai l ab l e Tec h ni q u e (BAT) polluted by tar and heavy metals. It therefore has to be plant is avoided. But if the power consumption and the washed prior to incineration – whereby the energy applied CO2 emission that are involved in the production of NaOH With the adoption of the so-called technique under economically and (BREFs) published by the Commis- in the pyrolysis/gasification process is cooled away. ‘On are taken into account, the application of lime is more IPPC directive, the term best avail- technically viable conditions as well sion. the other hand, it is possible to extract and exploit the advantageous. able technique, BAT, was introduced as an annex listing 12 considerations heavy metals, and – if fossil energy and/or clean oxygen are

into the European legislation. The to be taken into account when deter- What is the best available technique added – a better annealed and less leachable bottom ash is Another example is: Should NOX be catalytically removed directive contains specific definitions mining BAT. The twelfth and last of for treatment of waste? The directive obtained’ is the counterargument. The best known of these (SCR) at the expense of a larger consumption of steam at of the term, including a requirement these considerations is to acknow- does not answer this question. Instead, alternative processes is the Thermoselect process, which the plant in order to prevent the unavoidable ammonia that it must be possible to apply the ledge the BAT Reference Documents in another annex, it lists a number of must, however, still be considered to be at a development pollution of wastewater or residues involved in the non- industrial activities covered by the stage. catalytical reduction (SNCR)? directive, including installations for the incineration of municipal waste The technical working group on waste incineration should with a capacity exceeding 3 tonnes include considerations like these in its BREF. per hour. What is the best available technique for incineration of waste? Residence time (s) Hence, the question does not arise until the decision to thermally treat the Incineration of waste is usually effected by mass burn in- waste has been made. Accordingly, a cineration, i.e. by incinerating the waste as it is, except for special technical working group has the shredding of very large items. A few plants incinerate been set up for the purpose of pre- the waste on a fluidised bed, whereby a relatively larger paring a BREF on waste incineration. gross power production can allegedly be achieved. On the In May 2003 the working group pub- other hand, this technique requires very extensive, power lished its first draft and in March 2004 consuming shredding of the waste, and the amount of fly its second. ash produced is larger.

Although much work still has to be Consequently, it is the authors’ opinion that only mass made on the BREF, it is fair to conclude burn incineration on a grate or a combination of a grate that BAT differs from project to project. and a rotary kiln can today be considered BAT, provided that CFD calculations are used in the design process (CFD = computerised fluid dynamics). I/S Vestforbrænding seen from the West. CFD plot for assessment of residence time in Architect: Poul Kjærgaard A/S. an afterburning chamber.

42 43 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 4 . Th e Fu t u re

BAT plants Table 2. In conclusion, four recently established importance that the new unit 3 should Data on four recently established combined heat and power producing waste incineration plants in Denmark Danish plants are presented below: I/S be established as close to the existing Vestforbrænding’s unit 5, I/S REFA’s units as possible. The waste reception Plant Vestforbrænding REFA Reno-Nord unit 3, Svendborg CHP Plant and I/S hall and the waste pit were extended, Unit 5 Unit 3 CHP Plant Unit 4 Reno-Nord’s unit 4. All of these plants and the new unit was located around Commissioning 1998 1999 1999 2005 can be said to represent BAT; each in the existing units so that it could apply Capacity 26 t/h 9 t/h 6 t/h 20 t/h their own way. an available third pipe in the existing stack. On account of the limited area Consultant RSV* Rambøll Rambøll Rambøll I/S Vestforbrænding already had the available – as well as the fact that this Grate Vølund Vølund Vølund BS W (Vølund) largest unit in Denmark, 14 t/h, but solution would result in the same flue Steam pressure 52 bar 40 bar 50 bar 50 bar when unit 5 was tendered, a capacity gas treatment residue as the one gene- Steam temperature 380°C 400°C 400°C 425°C of as much as 26 t/h was selected. At rated by the two other units, which the same time it was decided that the could then be handled in a new joint Steam production 28.67 kg/s 9.7 kg/s 6.54 kg/s 22.12 kg/s plant should fully comply with the bigbag system for the three units – it Steam production 4.0 kg/kg waste 3.9 kg/kg waste 3.9 kg/kg waste 4.0 kg/kg waste requirements of the then draft version was chosen to install a semi-dry flue Steam turbine Allen Allen ABB BV Industrietech. of the EU directive on the incineration gas treatment system for the new unit. Power production 17 MW 6.7 MW 4.5 MW 17.5 MW of waste. The plant was therefore the first one in Denmark to apply a DeNO Hence, at both plants the dioxins Electrostatic FLS miljø no Rotemühle Alstom X precipitator technique in the form of SNCR com- are separated in baghouse filters, i.e. plete with ammonia stripping in the at a flue gas temperature of more Flue gas recirculation yes no yes no

water treatment system. The plant was than 100°C, whereas Svendborg CHP DeNOX process SNCR none to date none to date SNCR also the first one to have a limestone Plant as the first plant in Scandinavia Flue gas treatment wet semi-dry wet wet scrubber for the removal of SO2. After introduced the wet method for the the scrubber the flue gas is reheated separation of dioxins. In this method Supplier ABB FLS miljø LAB LAB

prior to being cleaned of dioxins in a it is not necessary to reheat the flue SO2 removal CaCO3 Ca(OH)2** NaOH CaCO3 bag house filter. gas, which enables the recovery of a Gypsum production yes not relevant no yes I/S REFA, Nykøbing . larger part of the energy contained in Flue gas condenser no no no yes Architect: Mikael Klinge, Klinges Tegnestue. For I/S REFA it was of the utmost the waste. Dioxin filter baghouse filter baghouse filter** Scrubber Scrubber Incineration of yes not relevant yes yes spent adsorbent Thermal efficiency 86.7% 86.9% 87.9% 98.0% Electrical efficiency 19.6% 22.3% 22.5% 26.9% * RSV = Rambøll, SK energi, Vestforbrænding. ** in connection with the semi-dry flue gas treatment

The new unit at I/S Reno-Nord is In this process such a large part of the Table 2 contains a comparison of very similar to the one in Svendborg. water vapour content of the flue gas is data from the four plants. If the data

However, the removal of SO2 is condensed that the unit becomes self- are compared with those applying to effected in a limestone scrubber, sufficient in water for both the wet the plants from the 30s, cf. table 1 and due to the fact that the district flue gas treatment and the cooling of on page 14, it is first and foremost heating water is returned at a tem- the bottom ash. apparent that the steam production perature lower than the flue gas per tonne of waste has quadrupled. temperature after the scrubbers, it is In other words, the part of the waste Part of this increase is naturally due possible to exploit this difference in that consists of water is recycled. to the fact that the calorific value of temperature for further production of the waste has significantly increased, district heating. This also entails an exploitation of but a reason that is just as important Svendborg CHP Plant. Interior nearly 100% of the lower calorific is that the energy efficiency has been Architects: Boje Lundgaard & Lene Tranberg. of Svendborg CHP Plant. value of the waste. given pride of place.

44 45 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark 4 . Th e Fu t u re

I/S Reno-Nord, Aalborg, extension by unit 4. Th e Ch a l l en g es of Tomorrow Architects: Arkitektfirmaet C.F. Møller. Architectural concept and elevations.

Denmark has incinerated waste for a counterparts abroad would envy them. trend towards a liberalisation that pre- period of 100 years. Although initially The waste, energy and indirect tax vails at present. the purpose was to reduce the quantity policy that Denmark has pursued has • Can the plants remain having the of waste that had to be landfilled, the been a decisive factor, in that the right to receive and treat the waste heat produced in the process has al- plants have been certain to receive arising in their area, or will they have ways – except at a few minor plants in the incinerable waste arising in their to compete for the waste with other the period of 1970-87 – been exploited respective areas and have been given incineration plants or industrial in- for power and/or heat production. a preferential right to sell the energy stallations? produced.

As the major part of the waste is CO2 • And will they in future be forced neutral biomass, the plants have made Even though the sector celebrated its to sell the power produced in a free a significant contribution to a reduction centenary in 2003 and can look back market economy? of Denmark’s emission of greenhouse on constant growth – only temporarily gases to the atmosphere. interrupted by the war in 1940-45 – in It is the authors’ assessment that Den- compliance with new environmental mark will face these challenges as best The waste incineration plants existing standards even before they have been it can. Internationally, the country will today are therefore not only incinera- enacted, it cannot rest on its laurels, continue to set an example in the field tion plants, but also high-technology but has to keep preparing for new chal- of waste incineration with energy re- energy works that have an important lenges. covery and maintain a leading role as socio-economic mission to fulfil. They an exporter of incineration knowledge do this at a price that most of their One of these challenges is the general and technology.

Model of I/S FASAN, Næstved, after exten- sion by a new unit 4 with a capacity of 8 t/h.

Rambøll assisted I/S FASAN in the takeover of Næstved CHP Plant (see p. 36) and is the Client’s Representative in the planning and erection of the new unit 4. Vølund will be supplying both the furnace and boiler.

Architects: Gottlieb & Paludan.

46 47 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark

Postscri p t Mu nici p a l Waste Incineration Pl ants in Denmark and Th e Faroe Is l ands Why has incineration achieved to the prominence of incineration in political agreements as well as by taxes u p dated 2007 such a prominent role in Denmark. and subsidies. Denmark? Hopefully, the description in this book It also paved the way for specialised The waste management policy fol- Plant Owner Address No.of lines Tot. capacity, t/h has provided an answer, at least in an consultants to stand between the plant lowed suit. Not only households but implicit and fragmented way. A more owners and the suppliers, and to assist also commercial waste producers are Aalborg I/S Reno-Nord Troensevej 2 2 31 9220 Aalborg Øst summarising answer could be: clients in obtaining the necessary obliged to have their waste collected Aars kommune Dybvad Møllevej 1 2 8.5 approvals from the authorities. Rambøll by the municipalities or to deliver it to 9600 Aars Aarhus Århus kommunale Værker Ølstedvej 20 3 31 In the second half of the 19th century contributed to the development of waste a treatment installation, e.g. an incin- 8200 Århus N it was realised that household waste incineration in Denmark and also aided eration plant devised by the munici- Esbjerg L 90 Måde Industrivej 35 1 20 6705 Esbjerg Ø must be collected and taken to landfills. in achieving publicly acceptable and pality. Elsam A/S Vendsysselvej 201 1 5 However, major cities like Frederiks- sustainable solutions. 9900 Frederikshavn I/S Vestforbrænding Ejbymosevej 219 4 83 berg, Gentofte and Aarhus soon ran out The combined effect of these policies 2600 Glostrup of available landfill sites, and had to After the first energy crisis in 1973, has removed the risks associated with Grenå Grenå kommune Kalorievej 9 1 2.5 8500 Grenå turn to incineration to reduce the vol- energy supply and consumption became the long-term investments in the neces- Haderslev Elsam A/S Dybkær 2, Marstrup 2 9 ume of waste. a political issue, and since then govern- sary incineration capacity, which again 6100 Haderslev Hammel Fjernvarme A.m.b.a. Irlandsvej 6 2 6 mental regulation has been tighter and has enabled Denmark – as the first 8450 Hammel From the beginning it was also realised tighter, always recognising that waste country in the World – to introduce a Herning EG. Jylland Miljøvej 3 1 5 7400 Herning that waste is a source of energy, which which cannot be recycled is a useful ban on the landfilling of incinerable Hjørring AVV I/S Mandøvej 8 2 12 could be exploited for combined heat fuel for heat and later on also CHP waste. 9800 Hjørring I/S Fælles Forbrænding Hvedemarken 13, Postboks 130 2 6.9 and power production. production – provided that strict envi- 9500 Hobro ronmental standards are fulfilled. In a In Denmark, incineration is conceived Holstebro Elsam A/S Energivej 2 2 18 7500 Holstebro The climate in Denmark is temper- fairly coherent way, incineration and as a sensible, indispensable part of the Horsens Elsam A/S Endelavevej 7 2 10 ate, making home heating a necessity district heating have been promoted by waste hierarchy. 8700 Horsens almost all year round. Until recent dis- Hørsholm I/S Nordforbrænding Savsvinget 2 4 19 The Danish 2970 Hørsholm coveries of oil and gas in the Danish København I/S Amagerforbrænding Kraftværksvej 31 4 48 incineration sector of the North Sea, imported fuels Skagen 2300 København S plants 2007 Kolding TAS I/S Bronzevej 6 2 19 6000 Kolding have covered practically all our gross Frederikshavn Hjørring Leirvik Intermunicipal Company, Faroe Islands Hagaleiti 1 2.5 energy consumption. FO-520 Leirvik Næstved I/S FASAN Ved Fjorden 20 3 15 Sweden 4700 Næstved This called for high-efficiency solu- Aalborg Nykøbing F I/S REFA Energivej 4 3 17 tions, and in the beginning of the 20th 4800 Nykøbing F. Aars century district heating became quite Odense Elsam A/S, Fynsværket Havnegade 120, Postboks 928 3 32 Hobro 5100 Odense C widespread in cities with major power Rønne I/S BOFA Almegårdsvej 8 1 2.5 3700 Rønne stations. In the ‘happy 60s’ everything Holstebro Roskilde I/S KARA Håndværkervej 70 3 34 boomed. New houses and flats, most Hammel 4000 Roskilde often heated with district heating, were Århus Skagen Skagen kommune Buttervej 66 1 2 Herning 9990 Skagen built at a staggering rate. Bruun & Hørsholm Skanderborg I/S RENO SYD Norgesvej 13 2 9.5 Horsens Glostrup 8660 Skanderborg Sørensen (see box on p. 21) realised Esbjerg I/S KAVO Dalsvinget 11 2 10 that waste is a useful fuel for district Roskilde mAager 4200 Slagelse Kolding Sønderborg Sønderborg Kraftvarmeværk I/S Vestermark 16 1 8 heating and challenged Vølund’s posi- Odense Slagelse Næstved 6400 Sønderborg tion as the Danish supplier of incinera- Haderslev Svendborg Svendborg Svendborg kommune Bodøvej 1 1 6 5700 Svendborg tors. Seen in retrospect, there is little Sønderborg Rønne Thisted I/S Thyra Industrivej 9 1 6.4 doubt that the resulting fierce competi- 7700 Thisted Torshavn Torshavnar Kommuna Post Box 32 1 2.5 tion between Vølund and B&S, which Nykøbing Falster FO-110 Torshavn made the plants available at large and Germany Vejen Elsam A/S Koldingvej 30B 1 4.3 at competitive prices, has meant a lot 6600 Vejen

48 49 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark

Literat u re

Most of the sources of text are available in Danish only. Frederiksberg Kommunes tekniske Forvaltning: Frederiksberg Below, please find the sources that are directly quoted. Ko m m u n e s Forbrændingsanstalt f o r Da g r e n o v a t i o n , 1948 Names of periodicals are stated in italics. ISWA, Working Group on Thermal Treatment of Waste: Aktieselskabet ‘Vølund’: 1898 Fø r s t e Ja n u a r 1923. En e r g y f r o m Wa s t e , St a t e -o f -t h e -Ar t Re p o r t s En Sk i l d r i n g a f Virksomhedens Op r i n d e l s e o g Væ k s t g e n n e m 25 No. 1, 1991, No. 2, 1994, No. 3, 1997 and No. 4, 2002. Aa r by Aage Christensen. Hertz Bogtrykkeri, Copenhagen 1922 ISWA, Copenhagen

Aktieselskabet Vølund: Vø l u n d g e n n e m 75 å r , Brøndby, 1973 Kjersgaard, Erik: Be s æ t t e l s e n 1940-45, Vol. I-II, Politikens Forlag, Copenhagen 1980 Amagerforbrænding: 25 å r s a ff aldsbehandling , Copenhagen 1995 Kommunekemi a/s: Ru n d t o m Ko m m u n e k e m i o g Mi l j ø e t . 25th anniversary book. Forlaget Tommeliden, Ørbæk 1996 Blach, E: Be h a n d l i n g a f d a g r e n o v a t i o n , Sundhedsplejen, 14, 1962, 50-59 Københavns Belysningsvæsen (Copenhagen Energy): Kø b e n h a v n s El v æ r k e r 1892/1992. Copenhagen 1992 Blach, E: An l æ g f o r a ff a l d s f o r b r æ n d i n g , 100 Years of Waste Incineration in Denmark Varme, 33, 1968, 74-87 Miljøministeriet (Ministry of the Environment): Bekendtgørelse n r . 162 a f 11. m a r t s 2003 o m a n l æ g , d e r f o r b r æ n d e r a ff a l d Published by: Brauer, Willy: Ko m m u n e k e m i – e t d a n s k p i o n e r a r b e j d e . Babcock & Wilcox Vølund A/S Willy Brauer og Kommunekemi a/s 1991 Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency): Falkevej 2 Mi l j ø r a p p o r t : Da n n e l s e o g s p r e d n i n g a f Di o x i n e r i f o r b i n d e l s e DK-6705 Esbjerg Ø Dakofa: El f remstilling v e d a ff a l d s f o r b r æ n d i n g . m e d Aff a l d s f o r b r æ n d i n g , Copenhagen 1984 Tel. : +45 7614 3400 Skrift nr. 2, Copenhagen 1988 Fax : +45 7614 3600 Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency): E-mail: [email protected] Dalager, Søren: Forbrændingsanstalter , St u d i e t u r 15. o g 16. Ve j l e d n i n g n r . 3 1986 o m begrænsning a f f o r u r e n i n g www.volund.dk and j u n i 1967. A/S Dansk Shell (unpubl.) f r a a ff a l d s f o rbrændingsanlæg Rambøll Teknikerbyen 31 dk-TEKNIK: Au x i l i a r y Bu r n e r s a t MSW Incinerators , Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency): 1995.08.07 (unpubl.) ’Waste Statistics 2002’, Environmental Review no. 2, 2004. DK-2830 Virum Tel. : +45 4598 6000 Fax : +45 4598 8520 Energistyrelsen (Danish Energy Agency): En e r g y 2000. A Pl a n Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency): E-mail: [email protected] o f Ac t i o n f o r Su s t a i n a b l e De v e l o p m e n t , Copenhagen 1990 Dioxinemission v e d a ff a l d s f o r b r æ n d i n g . www.ramboll.dk/wte Miljøprojekt nr. 117, 1989

Eriksen, Holger: Aa r h u s k o m m u n a l e Forbrændingsanstalt . Th e Mu n i c i p a l Re f u s e De s t r u c t o r Pl a n t i n Aa r h u s , 24. August Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency): 1934. Printed by: P. Busch, Aarhus Ve j l e d n i n g n r . 2 1993 o m begrænsning a f f o r u r e n i n g Set by: Høiland Design ApS (in Danish, figure captions in English) f r a f orbrændingsanlæg Printed in Denmark by: TopTryk Grafisk Translated from Danish by: Susanne Nilsson European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau: Vestforbrænding: Fr a Køkkenmødding t i l genbrugsstation . Copies: 2000 Dr a f t Re f e r e n c e Do c u m e n t o n Be s t Av a i l a b l e Te c h n i q u e s f o r Anniversary book on Vestforbrænding 1970-1995, Glostrup 1995 Reprinted 2007 Wa s t e Incineration , March 2004, Seville, Spain. http://eippcb. jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm Vølund: Mo d e r n St e a m -r a i s i n g Re f u s e De s t r u c t o r s , Copyright © Heron Kleis and Søren Dalager 2004 Danish Foreign Office Journal, July 1936 Forureningsrådet (The Pollution Board). Publikation nr. 6: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, Lu f t f o r u r e n i n g . Affaldsforbrænding, Copenhagen 1971 Vølund Ecology Systems: Te k n o l o g i /Te c h n o l o g y . copied or transmitted without the written permission of the authors. Vølund Ecology Systems, Brøndby 1995 (in Danish and English)

50 100 years of waste incineration Why does Denmark not have any mountains of waste? And why does the country no longer have odorous dumps infested with flies, gulls and rats? This is because Denmark 100 years ago began to realise that waste can be exploited for the production of power and heat; initially in cell furnaces and eventually in grate fired plants with flue gas treatment in up to five subsequent steps.

Vølund and Rambøll have in each their own way contributed to this development – and therefore also have an obligation to celebrate the centenary of waste incineration in Denmark and preserve this particular corner of Danish history.

That is the objective of this book.