Emission characteristics of dioxin from small-scale high-temperature treatment facilities for rural waste in the Tibetan Plateau region

Highlights

	● Higher levels of dioxin in small-scale facilities for rural domestic waste.
	● Differential partitioning of dioxin in multiple media at small-scale facilities.
	● Large differences of dioxin congeners distribution in pyrolysis oils and charcoal.

Abstract

This study evaluates the performance of small-scale high-temperature treatment facilities for managing rural domestic waste on the Tibetan Plateau and investigates the emission characteristics of dioxin pollutants. Seven small-scale facilities (with capacities ranging from 3 to 25 t/d) selected from a total of 183 different facilities in the Tibetan Plateau region, underwent on-site sampling and laboratory multi-threaded pollutant analysis of pollutants. The results revealed that dioxin emission concentrations in the flue gas ranged from 0.085 to 53.6 ng I-TEQ/Nm³. The primary mechanism for dioxin synthesis in the flue gas of small-scale gasification incinerators and high-temperature pyrolysis furnaces consisted of the precursor formation mechanism, whereas de novo synthesis was observed in conventional incinerators. Dioxin concentrations in fly ash varied from 0.0060 to 11.59 ng I-TEQ/g, with precursor synthesis as the dominant pathway. The distribution of dioxin in activated carbon and desulfurization lye notably differed significantly from that in the flue gas and fly ash congeners. Additionally, the dioxin content in the pyrolysis products exceeded both the concentrations in purchased-coal and the relevant emission limits. The total emission factors for these facilities ranged from 0.49 to 326.92 μg I-TEQ/t, with variations of the distribution of dioxin emission factors observed across different facilities.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Tibetan Plateau region / Rural domestic waste / Small-scale / High-temperature treatment facilities / Dioxin

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Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1941-7 and is accessible for authorized users.

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