Co-combustion of coal and meat and bone meal

Feeding meat and bone meal (MBM) to cattle, sheep or other animals has been banned within the EU since 1 of July 1994. The quantities to be eliminated are measured in millions of tons. Disposal to landfill is not an option, as simply burying the material cannot destroy any potential bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) pathogens. One disposal option is the co-combustion of coal and MBM, to ensure that any living organism is totally thermally destroyed and at the same time valorising its energetic potential. Fluidised bed co-combustion of MBM is considered a viable technological option as it has the flexibility to burn coal with different materials in an efficient way, at relatively low temperatures (750–850 °C) with lower environmental impact. For this purpose, co-combustion tests of coal and MBM were carried out on a pilot scale FBC, to investigate the implications of the results. This involved the determination of the emissions of pollutants like NOx, N2O, VOC, CO2, as well as the composition and the valorisation of the ashes produced. The ashes from the bed, the cyclones and the stack were collected and analyzed for biological activity, ecotoxicity, heavy metal concentration and leachability. The results obtained suggest that the ashes were suitable to be deposited in municipal landfills.