COMPONENTS OF A MODERN CREMATORIUM

In modern crematorium, some or all of the following facilities are provided.

Offices including a registry.
Chapel to accommodate a minimum of 100 persons. This is certainly superior in utility value at the committal service where in the case of earth burial people stand on the grave of other dead people.

Holding chamber which is situated between the chapel and the furnace room. The coffin remains there it is placed in the furnace.

The furnace room which houses the furnaces and other facilities
Chapel of rest which serves as a waiting room before committal service starts

The columbarium: this is a building which provides facilities for the storage of urns that hold the cremated remains. It has recesses in its walls for holding urns.
“Garden of Rest” which are well laid out beautiful gardens on the grounds where ashes may be scattered or urns may be buried. A “garden of rest” may be sited near the crematorium or it may be sited as part of the cemetery space allocated to the different religious denominations.

MODERN METHODS OF CREMATION

Modern cremation is generally performed in a Crematorium where a specially designed furnace is used. The furnace or cremation chamber is pre-heated to 600 700 F in readiness to receive to corpse in a coffin. Upon
Introduction, the coffin bursts immediately into flames; air is introduced into the chamber that aids the combustion and thereby raises the temperature to 950-1100 F.

In practice great effort is made to render Cremation as smokeless and lack of sympathy from relatives and the general public. The Objective is achieved by the inclusion of a smoke combustion chamber to decrease the volume of smoke emitted. Also, through proper control of the furnace temperature, the amount of smoke issuing from the stack is rendered negligible.

Cremation furnaces are heated by gas or electricity. Which ever fuel is used, the cremation chamber is preheated to the proper temperature and the heat source cut off before the coffin is introduced. In Ghana, we hope to use the gas-fired system as a most cost effective method.

Modern Cremation is generally accomplished in about two hours. Where several cremations are done per day, it may not be necessary to pre-heat the furnace for each cremation, since the furnace can retain its temperature over a long period of time.
One furnace is capable of carrying out four to six cremations per day with average power consumption in the range of 30 – 60 KW per cremation. Where a crematorium is not used frequently, the energy consumption becomes an important factor because of the loss of heat from the furnace in the long interval between cremations. It is most economical in terms of energy consumption to perform the maximum number of cremations per day. This is also a strong argument in favour of abandoning the “Open Pyre” method of cremation.

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