grate, waterwall type facility with the capacity to process up to 12 tonnes of refuse per hour.

Incineration of Municipal Solid Waste, which originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1800s, has made a phenomenal impact on the Waste Management industry.

Major developments in design and construction of the continuous grate type plants were achieved in Western Europe during the early 1930s, according to Tynes Bay plant manager, Mr. Allan Hunt.

The design and construction of incineration plants have developed continuously ever since.

And Von Roll Systems is one of the major contributors who revolutionised the industry through their design and construction of grate and boiler systems, said Mr. Hunt.

"The incinerator, which is on line 24 hours a day, is one of the best systems available.

"It will never shut down unless we choose to shut it down,'' he said. "And there will always be shift operators in the control room who are responsible for incineration.'' The control room, which is above the refuse bunker, houses a state-of-the-art automated computer network.

"Operators use a system called ABB which controls everything,'' said Mr.

Hunt.

The incineration process includes feeding the furnace with waste by use of the crane, seeing that the grates in the combustion chamber are functioning properly and checking the primary and secondary air as well as the combustion temperature, the conditions of the steam and steam feeding, the water treatment system and the sea water cooling system.

Gases to be continually monitored include oxygen, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and chlorine.

"The monitoring of oxygen gives a clear indication of the thoroughness of combustion,'' said solid waste manager, Mr. Bill Goodings.

The crane, which is used regularly, picks up approximately two tonnes of garbage at a time. It is used to smooth out the refuse, look for unwanted waste that shouldn't be in the incinerator and scoop garbage into the streams which lead to the boilers, said Mr. Hunt.

"There are two streams where garbage can be dumped but we have accommodations for a third chute should the Island's trash increase,'' he noted.

"If garbage on the Island increases dramatically in the next 25 years, we will put a third stream in,'' added Mr. Russell Wade, assistant resident engineer. "But I don't see that happening.'' The incinerator has been designed to enable a single stream to handle the Island's waste, with a full back up of an alternate stream under normal conditions, said Mr. Goodings.

Project manager at the Water Quality Institute, Mr. Ole Hjelmar, anticipates that only half the incinerator's capacity will be used for the first ten years of operation. So for now, the need for a third boiler stream seems unlikely.

Each stream can process six tonnes of garbage per hour. "We're still testing the boilers to see how they function,'' said Mr. Wade.

"Boiler two is now on line and running at 100 percent capacity,'' he noted.

"It's presently burning four and a half tonnes of garbage per hour.'' He added that each boiler must run for two months continuously before the incinerator can be turned over to the Ministry of Works and Engineering. "We must also carry out performance tests before the takeover,'' he said.

Von Roll from Zurich, Switzerland will continue to operate the incinerator through the testing stages. Other contractors including service contractor, E.Pihl & Sons from Denmark and British mechanical consultants, Kennedy & Duncan as well as British civil consultants, G. Maunsell & Partners have completed their work on site.

The plant will likely be taken over by the Works Ministry at the end of the year.

GARBAGE GALORE -- Control room processors operate the crane, which transports refuse from the bunker to the boiler stream for burning.

THUMBS UP -- Plant operations manager, Mr. Allan Hunt gives the `okay' in the boiler house of the Tynes Bay Incinerator on Palmetto Road.