Incineration is an essential tool in managing industrial, hazardous and municipal wastes more sustainably, as long-landfilled materials such as hazardous medical wastes, petrochemicals, ammunitions, and others, have a negative impact on environment. In this respect, ability to neutralize toxic waste produced by the industry is essential. While many types of incineration equipment exist, rotary kiln keeps on seducing for multiple reasons: high-capacity, continuous production, and ability of processing multiple types of waste streams (liquid, pasty, solid) at the same time. Currently, high alumina bricks and alumina-chromia bricks are traditionally used for the refractory linings of these rotary kilns. Lifetime of refractory parts is usually around 12-24 months. However, some concerns have been noticed on various incineration plants: fast wear of brick thickness, decreasing from 24 to sometimes less than 12 months. These issues have important consequences for production and need to be understood.
In this aim, this work consists of two parts. First, context and process evolutions in hazardous waste incineration plants during these last years are studied with a strong focus on kiln conditions as slag properties or temperature. Wear mechanism of refractories in rotary kiln has been understood thanks to macroscopic observations and microscopic studies using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Then, in a further step, this comprehension of the refractory wear and the evolution of the mechanism during the last years allow us to test alternative refractory materials and innovative solutions which can be implemented at an industrial scale.