9. Transforming Waste Management
Introducing Gasplasma®
As global population, consumption and
waste levels rise, and primary resources,
including fossil fuels, are depleted, the world
faces a double-edged problem. At the same
time there is an urgent need to address the
challenges of climate change and global
energy access. The critical status of our
global waste management infrastructure
coupled with the urgent need to develop
sustainable and accessible energy sources,
presents a significant opportunity for
advanced waste-to-energy and fuel
conversion technologies.
Advanced Plasma Power (APP) is a world
leader in advanced waste-to-energy and
fuels technology. APP is revolutionising
the way in which we treat waste sustainably
- maximising the value derived from it as
an energy and materials resource whilst
minimising the impact on the environment.
APP is contributing to a cleaner environment
and to sustainable waste management in a
number of important ways. It has developed
the Gasplasma®
process which is clean,
modular and scalable, delivering high
efficiencies and maximising landfill
diversion whilst minimising visual and
environmental impact.
Gasplasma®
technology provides a real
opportunity to work towards a zero waste
economy while delivering efficiently
and reliably on renewable energy
generation targets.
Develop Energy:
Maximise the
Value:
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11. The process is designed and scaled to be
local – offering a community based solution.
The plant fits into a standard industrial
warehouse as seen in most edge of town
business parks and has very low emissions.
As such it is a proximate solution reducing
the distances waste needs to be transported
and maximising the potential for heat
recovery and use.
After the removal of valuable recyclates, the
Gasplasma®
process treats a wide range
of non-recyclable feedstocks produced
from residual municipal solid waste and
commercial/industrial waste converting them
all into two high value outputs: a clean, high
quality, energy-rich synthesis gas (syngas)
and a solid, vitrified product - each with
multiple applications.
The syngas can be used to generate
electricity directly in gas engines, gas
turbines and/or fuel cells or it can be
converted to substitute natural gas (SNG),
hydrogen or liquid fuels. The solid product,
Plasmarok®
, is strong, inert and non-leaching
and has a variety of valuable end uses, for
instance, as a building material.
Process:
Outputs:
Transforming Waste Management
Introducing Gasplasma®
[ 9 ]
Outputs
Biofuels Heat
Substitute
Natural
Gas
ElectricityPlasmarok®
15. Around the world, large quantities of waste
are sitting in landfills causing environmental
issues. Landfill sites emit methane which is
a very potent greenhouse gas and with a
number of sites there is a risk of land and
groundwater contamination. Furthermore,
given the relatively recent onset of recycling
and source segregation, there are large
resources of valuable materials buried in
our landfills. The concept of regenerating
a landfill site opens up a whole spectrum
of opportunities especially as our primary
sources of materials and fuels become
ever more depleted. The sites themselves,
around which in many cases populations
have grown, can be returned to developable
land or parkland with amenity value.
Waste to Products
The Gasplasma®
Gateway
Currently the majority (70%) of the world’s
residual municipal and commercial waste
(several billion tonnes per annum) is sent
to landfill wasting both a valuable resource
and harming the environment. Owing to the
considerable biomass content of residual
waste, there is an urgent environmental and
economic imperative to divert this waste
from landfill to reduce harmful methane
emissions. The biomass content, however,
also makes it an excellent renewable fuel
which should be put to best possible use.
Landfill
Diversion:
Landfill Mining:
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17. Instead of ash, the Gasplasma®
process
produces a vitrified product which is
strong, inert and environmentally stable,
with a number of end use applications.
Importantly, the material is a product and
not a waste.
Waste to Products
The Gasplasma®
Gateway
Thermal processes typically combust waste
to heat water to drive a steam turbine.
This is inherently inefficient and offers
only the possibility of on-site power and
heat generation. Gasplasma®
is different.
The process overcomes the challenge
of producing a synthesis gas from waste
which is capable of being used directly in
gas engines, gas turbines and fuel cells
achieving greater electrical efficiencies.
However, the gas, which comprises the basic
building blocks of all organic chemistry,
has many other applications. It can be
converted to hydrogen, substitute natural
gas (methane) or to liquid fuels.
Syngas With
Multiple
Applications:
Plasmarok®
:
[ 15 ][ 15 ]
For many years,
developers have been trying to
convert waste into a gas that
can be used in a gas engine for
electricity and heat generation.
APP has overcome the major
obstacle to the use of waste
gasification to power such
gas engines.
Fichtner Consulting Engineers
Process:
Outputs:
[ 15 ]
21. The Gasplasma®
process enables
almost complete landfill diversion and
is complementary to recycling. It can be
used in conjunction with existing recycling
schemes and, after the removal of recyclates,
takes waste that cannot be recycled and
uses it to produce energy. The process
produces a high value construction material
called Plasmarok®
that is recognised as
a product not a waste. This removes any
environmental, regulatory and commercial
risks, which are associated with concerns
over the potential eco-toxicity of bottom
ash produced by incinerators and other
thermal processes.
Total Conversion
The Gasplasma®
Advantages
APP’s Gasplasma®
technology offers
numerous unique benefits over conventional
thermal treatment technologies. Converting
waste to a gas to generate electricity directly
in gas engines, gas turbines or fuel cells
dramatically improves energy conversion
efficiency and maximises electrical output.
The gas is also capable of being converted
to substitute natural gas, for distribution to
homes and businesses in existing gas grids,
or hydrogen or liquid fuels.
Maximum Energy
Efficiency:
Maximum Landfill
Diversion:
[ 19 ][ 19 ][ 19 ]
Waste to energy efficiency
Landfill Gas
Anaerobic Digestion
Mass Burn Incineration
Gasification
Gasplasma®
23. As most of the equipment is manufactured
off-site, a plant can be built and installed
in 18 months compared to 24-30 months
for alternative technologies, which usually
require a substantial amount of on-site
fabrication work.
Total Conversion
The Gasplasma®
Advantages
A Gasplasma®
plant is around 15m high,
meaning that it can fit into a standard
warehouse similar to the kind seen in edge
of town business parks. Emissions from the
plant are very low allowing for a stack of
only some 10 metres above the height of
the building. When producing fuels local
emissions are negligible and no stack
is required.
The low environmental impact means that a
plant can be located, unobtrusively, on the
edge of a town, taking waste from that town
and supplying power and heat in return - a
local, community solution to local waste
management challenges and sustainable
energy requirements. Situating a plant close
to population centres has additional benefits
such as reducing the carbon footprint of
waste by cutting the distance over which it is
transported. Moreover, locating plants close
to heat users, whether industrial or domestic,
further improves energy efficiency.
Low
Environmental
and Visual
Impact:
Local Solution:
Rapid
Deployment:
[ 21 ][ 21 ]
27. A full Gasplasma®
plant comprises:
1) a waste reception hall and materials
recycling facility (MRF);
2) the core Gasplasma®
technology
consisting of the fluidised bed gasifier
and plasma convertor;
3) gas cleaning equipment to cool, clean
and condition the syngas; and
4) a power island to generate renewable
power and heat.
The fluidised bed gasifier transforms the
organic materials in the feedstock into a
crude or unrefined syngas; this is done at a
temperature of around 800°C in a controlled
reduced oxygen environment. The syngas
produced by gasification alone contains
condensable tars making it unsuitable for
use in efficient gas engines or gas turbines.
Integrating Proven Technology
The Gasplasma®
Innovation
The core Gasplasma®
technology is a
two-stage advanced conversion process.
It combines two long standing and well
proven technologies (gasification and plasma
conversion) in a unique configuration. After
the removal of valuable recyclates, the
Gasplasma®
process treats a wide range
of non-recyclable feedstocks produced
from residual municipal solid waste and
commercial/industrial waste converting them
all into two high value outputs: a clean, high
quality, energy-rich synthesis gas (syngas)
and a solid, vitrified product (Plasmarok®
) -
each with multiple applications. Gasplasma®
offers a genuinely game-changing solution
for a zero waste future.
Core Gasplasma®
:
Full Plant:
[ 25 ][ 25 ]
29. The syngas is then cooled, cleaned and
conditioned through conventional wet
and dry scrubbers (to remove any acidic
components) before being used directly in
a power island, consisting of reciprocating
gas engines or gas turbines, to generate
renewable power and heat for export. At its
Swindon plant, APP has been operating a
gas engine on syngas since 2008.
As the world looks for new sustainable waste
management solutions and alternative
renewable energy supplies, Gasplasma®
offers a world-class solution to both of these
global challenges.
Integrating Proven Technology
The Gasplasma®
Innovation
The crude syngas is then fed into a separate,
secondary plasma converter. The intense
heat from the plasma arc and the strong
ultraviolet light of the plasma ‘cracks’ the
condensable tars and other longer chain
organics into a clean hydrogen-rich syngas.
The bottom ash from the gasifier, containing
mainly inorganic elements, is also fed
into the plasma converter and is vitrified
into a product called Plasmarok®
. This is a
mechanically strong and extremely leach
resistant material with multiple applications
(in contrast to the bottom ash arising from
other thermal waste processes).
Products:
Power Island:
[ 27 ][ 27 ]
30. We chose to partner
with APP on the production
of substitute natural gas
as part of our BioSNG
demonstration project
due to their expertise in
gasification of waste and
the high quality of the
syngas from the Gasplasma®
process.
Marcus Stewart
Strategy Development
Manager, National Grid
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