Trial burns are utilized to protect the environment from industrial processes that use incinerators, boilers, and industrial furnaces to certify that they can continue to operate without emitting harmful and hazardous pollutants into the air.
Trial burns use components that contain constituents of interest in a known concentration to allow the measurement of the efficiency of their environmental protection system and demonstrate their Destruction and Removal Efficiency (DRE). Constituents of interest may include RCRA metals, gases, organic compounds, and carcinogens. Common trial burn test compounds used are either in a solid or liquid form such as metal oxides or salts, solvents, solutions, and slurries.
Regulators will determine the regulatory performance standards as well as site-specific standards. Both must be met to be in compliance as well as the constituents and conditions that must be used during the trial burn.