Back in 1980, less than 10% of Americans (deceased) were cremated. That number is currently about 53%, according to the National Cremation Association of North America.
The change comes from many causes from religion, culture to widespread acceptance by society. However, no event has accelerated that change faster than the Great Recession (Global Recession 2009). “We saw cremation rates go up during the economic downturn in late 2008 and people lost their jobs. Cremation is a less expensive alternative to traditional underground burials.” Jim Koslovski, Director of Rosehill and Rosedale Cemeteries in New Jersey (USA).
Rosehill and Rosedale Cemetery only charges 0 to cremate a body, and charges additional fees for caskets, flowers, and other services. In contrast, a grave can cost ,500, plus an additional ,900 in surcharges.
Usually, when the hearse enters the crematorium, the dead body will be wrapped and placed in a coffin. This partly shows respect for the dead as well as protects cremation technicians from infectious diseases, as well as helps them handle the remains in the safest way before cremation.
The coffins enter the cold storage area of the crematorium. At Rosehill, efforts are made to perform all cremations and return the remains to the next of kin within 24 hours. This is also consistent with the principles of burial of the deceased in the US states.
When cremation preparations are in place, the coffin is removed from cold storage and placed on a hydraulic lift table that looks like a barrel, and then transferred to one of the cremation units. (better known as crematorium, however, Americans avoid calling this word because it reminds people of the crematorium at Auschwitz concentration camp of Nazi Germany).
A small mistake/mistake can have unforgivable consequences, so Rosehill uses two forms of ID to make sure the family receives the correct remains. A copy of the receipt is attached to the outside of the cremation unit and the metal ID card that goes with the deceased inside the unit.
A cremation unit has two chambers: the primary chamber , where the body is brought in, and the secondary chamber or “back chamber” , where the gases produced by the cremation process are consumed. A typical primary chamber has brick walls, and floors and roofs of highly heat-resistant concrete.
The main chamber (where the body is cremated) is heated from 760 degrees Celsius to 1,093 degrees Celsius for 1.5 to 2 hours.
The gases and particles formed enter the back chamber, a 9-meter-long maze designed to trap the gases for at least a second. The rear chamber is designed to withstand hot air flows up to a temperature of 927 degrees Celsius.
Cremation units (crematorium – ND) in Rosehill. (Photo: CAREN CHESLER/Popularmechanics).
“Any solid will turn to a gas if heated to the right point. That’s basically what happens to the body when tissue is heated to the point where its solid turns into a gas and becomes readily available. It’s crucial to design equipment that consumes the majority of emissions so that they fall within state environmental regulations,” said Brian Gamage, marketing manager for American Cremation Equipment in Florida. .
According to environmental agencies in most US states, the particles emitted should be less than 0.1 per 0.0283 standard cubic meter. Problems arise when the volume of gas (smoke) becomes too large for the post-treatment chamber and it overflows. It can happen if the machine is not properly designed or if the operator overloads the main chamber, which can happen for surprising reasons – for example: Putting an obese person in the equipment at the wrong time of day.
It sounds creepy, but the weight is something crematorium operators have to worry about. The machine doesn’t know the difference between a person weighing 68 kg and a person weighing 180 kg. It just does its job.
The general rule of the crematorium is that 45kg of human fat is equivalent to 65 liters of kerosene. If a person weighs 180kg then at least 90kg of that will be fat burning quickly. If you put the person in an overheated machine, as the cremation unit (crematorium) tends to get hotter later in the day, the back chamber can give off smoke and odors massively and into the air.
While some crematoriums can process bodies more quickly, a cremation unit can essentially complete a cremation in about 1.5 hours . And that varies depending on the weight of the dead and the type of coffin carrying them. The time-consuming nature limits the number of cremations each unit can handle in a day.
Photo cremation process: (1) The body is identified and the family of the deceased authorizes cremation. Medical devices and prostheses were removed and jewelry recovered before the body was placed in a combustible box. (2) The box is placed inside the cremation chamber and heated from 760 degrees Celsius to 1,093 degrees Celsius for 1.5 to 2 hours. (3) The rest is cooled and the technician removes the metal pieces with a magnet. (4) The rest is ground into a fine powder. (5) The ashes are placed in crates and jars and returned to the family. (Photo: CAREN CHESLER/Popularmechanics).
Once the cremation is complete, the remains are placed on a silver baking tray. A technician runs a magnet over them to remove non-combustible materials during the cremation process. These usually come from a person’s pins, screws, hinges, and prosthetic joints. The technician will then visually inspect and remove any materials the magnet missed, for example, pieces of glass left behind.
The crematorium puts the leftover bones and ashes into a pulverizer, unlike a food processor, to grind them into a more homogeneous powder. The remains were then placed in a container for the family.
Of course, cremation of the dead is not a new concept. Cremation dates back to the Stone Age, and it was common in ancient Greece and Rome. In certain religions such as Hinduism, cremation, especially open-air cremation, is a very popular form of burial for the dead.
The rise of Christianity held back cremation in the West. By AD 400, around the time Emperor Constantine was Christianizing the Roman Empire, Rome had banned cremation as a pagan practice. The theological reason for this ban has to do with resurrection (revival) – they want to keep the body intact so that the dead can be resurrected in another world. Jewish law also forbids this. By the 5th century, cremation had disappeared from Europe.
This activity saw a resurgence in Europe in the 1870s, mainly in an attempt to limit the spread of disease.
The first modern crematorium was built in the US in 1876. By 1900, there were 20 crematoriums in the US. This practice was further promoted in 1963, when the Catholic Church reversed its position on cremation during the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and said that cremation was permitted. Today, there are more than 3,000 crematoriums across the United States.
The widespread acceptance of cremation, says Jim Koslovski, is consistent with the realities of cemeteries running low on space. He estimates Rosehill has only 15 years left before it runs out of space.
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Ashes container. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES).
As cremation continues to be seen as the leading alternative to burying the dead, the emissions that come with the process have become a concern – so much so that people are starting to consider a number of cremation alternatives. burial.
There is now a water-based process called alkaline hydrolysis , which was invented as a way to get rid of animals infected with mad cow disease. It is being marketed as a more environmentally friendly option after slaughter for humans because it produces less carbon monoxide and pollution.
Alkaline hydrolysis involves placing a body in a chamber filled with water and potassium hydroxide and heated to 149 degrees Celsius at high pressure. After three hours, the body becomes a greenish-brown liquid and the bones are soft enough to crush. Bones may be returned to the family, while liquid may be discharged into the sewer system.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this measure did not really work. It is slower than cremation. And more importantly, the technology is more expensive: A stainless steel pressurizer can cost from 5,000 for a basic unit to 0,000 for a high-end unit, while a Cremation costs about 0,000. There are also legal problems as the process is prohibited unless a state has passed a law specifically allowing it.
Moreover, ethical issues are also raised when a part of the dead body (after alkaline hydrolysis) is turned into a liquid and then discharged into the sewer system. This is difficult to accept with family members.