Process and apparatus for incinerating wet refuse

A process for incinerating wet refuse containing not less than 60% water and having a size of not more than 30 mm in a combustion chamber having a fluidized bed of solid particles formed therein, comprising:

• (a) forming at least three adjacent chamber zones arranged vertically and in series, two or more upper zones thereof having perforated bottoms and being provided with a fluid and heat medium of solid particles, said medium being fluidized to form a fluidized bed on each perforated bottom by gases fed continuously from below said zones;
• (b) continuously feeding air into the lower non-fluidized bed zone to cause a combustion and fluidization, and through the upper fluidized bed zones via the perforated bottoms thereof, to be discharged from a topmost fluidized bed zone;
• (c) continuously feeding wet refuse into an intermediate primary fluidized bed zone;
• (d) continuously feeding auxiliary fuel into the lower non-fluidized bed zone to cause a combustion with a part of the fed air, whereby a combination of said air feed, said refuse feed, and said fluidization of the heat particle medium, generates sufficient heat energy to dry the fed refuse and incinerate 70% to 80% of the dried fed refuse in said intermediate primary fluidized bed zone;
• the balance of said refuse being in a form of unburnt carbon particles having a size small enough to move upward through said perforated bottoms, said carbon particles being forced to move from said intermediate primary fluidized bed zone into one or more of said upper fluidized bed zones and to be incinerated therein, said generated heat energy combining with additional heat energy generated by an incineration of the refuse with a remaining portion of the fed air.