What Is a Cremation Chamber or Crematorium?

A cremation chamber, also known as a retort, is an industrial furnace designed to hold one body. Lined with fire-resistant bricks, the chamber can withstand temperatures up to 2,000 degrees. Modern cremation furnaces are automated and computerized, and they are fueled with natural gas, propane, or diesel. They must follow today’s environmental and air quality standards.

A crematorium is usually the term for the facility that houses a cremation chamber or retort. There may be multiple chambers in a crematorium. A crematorium can be a part of a funeral home, a church, or it can be a stand-alone facility. Crematoriums are usually regulated by the state.

Types of Cremation

Compared with traditional burial, cremation typically does not require embalming, and large burial plots are unnecessary. Cremation is also typically a less expensive arrangement than traditional burial.

There are a couple of different options for cremation.

Types of Cremation

Direct Cremation Liquid Cremation Uses heat to reduce the body to bone fragments Uses water and alkali to speed up decomposition Flame potentially creates mercury byproduct Flameless process consumes very little energy, and the resulting sterile solution can be recycled through the wastewater treatment system. Smaller amount of resultant ashes Larger amount of resultant ashes Requires removal of metal, pacemaker, etc. Many medical devices may be left in the body Legal everywhere Not yet accepted in all US states

Direct Cremation

Direct cremation is a process where the remains are transferred directly to a cremation center without a funeral service beforehand. Because this approach eliminates the need for a funeral service and a casket purchase, it’s often the cheapest type of cremation. Direct cremations typically don’t allow for a viewing, visitation, or wake beforehand. Most families will schedule a memorial service at a later date for friends and family to pay their respects.

Liquid Cremation

The process of alkaline hydrolysis is an alternative to flame cremation. The combination of the water, alkali, heat, and pressure causes a reaction that speeds up decomposition and leaves behind only bone fragments and a sterile liquid. The flameless process results in about 30% more remains than flame-based cremation, which may require a larger vessel. This process may take three to sixteen hours, depending on body mass and equipment. Many medical devices, including pacemakers, do not need to be removed before the process as they do with conventional flame-based cremation.

Green Cremation

Alkaline hydrolysis is considered a “green” alternative to burial. Once drained of remaining bone fragments, the resulting sterile solution can be recycled through the wastewater treatment system. Many environmentally conscious individuals are now opting for alkaline hydrolysis instead of the conventional procedure because of its environmental benefits. In addition to the ability to recycle the liquid byproduct, it is a green choice for several important reasons:

• Green cremation reduces more than 75% of a body’s carbon footprint.
• The green process only consumes 1/8 of the amount of energy of conventional flame-based cremation.
• Because there is no flame, green cremation eliminates concerns regarding mercury emissions and reduces the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases.

Substituting Green Cremation for Conventional Cremation

To decide whether you can elect green cremation, you’ll first need to determine if your state permits the practice. Alkaline hydrolysis is still not approved nationwide. The process is regulated on a state level, and only about half the US states have legalized the process.

You’ll also want to contact your funeral home to find out their individual practices and policies. Even if your state allows alkaline hydrolysis, your funeral home might not be set up with the technology to perform it. If you discover that your state or facility does not support the procedure, you could consider reaching out to a provider in a neighboring state. One place to start is by doing a search for businesses classified as “Crematory, Alkaline Hydrolysis” on the Member Directory of the Cremation Association of North America.

The Body During the Cremation Process

The different types of cremation use different technologies to affect the body. In the “traditional” flame-based method, the body is placed into a cremation chamber that reduces the body to bone fragments using flame and heat. Combustion occurs in two stages: Primary combustion burns off tissue, organs, body fat, and some container materials as gases, then secondary combustion continues to work on the remaining inorganic particles, usually from the container. The gases (mostly mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor) discharge, leaving bone fragments to be pulverized into ashes.

For alkaline hydrolysis, the body is placed in a pressurized stainless steel chamber that combines 95% water and 5% alkali and raises the temperature to 350 degrees to speed up the natural process that a body undergoes after burial, which can take up to 25 years. The alkaline breaks up the chemical bonds in the body and converts them into basic chemicals of calcium phosphate from bone fragments and sterile liquid containing tissue remnants such as water, salts, and amino acids. The bone is then processed into ash, and the liquid is disposed into the wastewater system.