PPM-Level HCl Measurements From Cement Kilns And Waste Incinerators By FTIR Spectroscopy

By Peter Zemek, PhD, Joe Van Gompel, PhD, and Steven Plowman, MIDAC Corporation

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is an accepted and well-known technique by the EPA to measure hydrogen chloride (HCl). Over the past 10 years, HCl by FTIR has been utilized successfully at many cement kilns and other incineration technologies using EPA Method 321 or 301. HCl is a common byproduct from cement kilns and municipal waste incinerators. Commonly, kilns will receive hazardous waste and other chlorinated compounds, under what the EPA calls the "Burning of Hazardous Waste in Boilers and Industrial Furnaces" (BIF) rule. Chlorine also enters the cement kiln in with the raw materials. In a municipal waste incinerator, many poly-chlorinated materials such old PVC piping are burned and HCl is produced, along with CO2 and water vapor. HCl is considered a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) by the US EPA. A significant source is characterized as emitting HCl at greater than 10 tons / year.