Plasma arc gasification

Thermochemical conversions such as incineration, pyrolysis or gasification are important treatment pathways in sustainable and integrated waste management systems. They offer a multitude of advantages from waste volume, landfill space, greenhouse gas emission reduction, higher conversion rate than most biochemical and physcochemical processes, in addition to halogenated organic destruction, and better renewable energy compatibility. Gasification or partial oxidation is gaining more popularity in echoing the current environmental need for diminishing land fill volume and reducing the hefty incineration cost and associated dioxins, sulfur, furans, and even CO2 emissions, producing clean and easy to burn and transport syngas. Additionally, its flexibility to accommodate different mixtures of waste and produce different syngas proportions and chemicals promote it as the near future technology for converting waste streams into power or valued chemicals. Amongst the different gasification technology is plasma gasification, which has begun to gain more popularity for pilot scale deployment. A range of literature has reported diverse findings regarding the implementation of this technology, ranging from reports of it represseneting no gain, to reports of huge energy gains within the treatment of Municipal Solid Waste and others. It is reported that the electric energy requirements for plasma gasification of MSW is between 800 and 845 kWh/ton wastes which the same electrical energy generated assuming it upholds 10 MJ/kg LHV and is fed into the 30% efficiency power cycle, i.e., Rankin. Other researchers urged that the required plasma energy is 1200- 2,500 MJ/t waste, which is in the 10% range of the energy of the feed waste. This suggests that electrical consumptions are in the order of about 20% of the gross power output of the plant. Advance plasma power in the UK and Plasco Energy group are amongst the pioneer to bring this technology to commercialization at an output power of 1MWH/ton of RDF and with a net electrical efficiency of 23%. However, and integrated combined cycle, which suitable for syngas, can reach as high as 60%. This suggests the quest for higher energy return from plasma is at large. This chapter provides an overview of the plasma physics and their application in waste treatment as well as its systematic modeling. The chapter provides an overview of the plasma physics and their applications in the waste treatment, as well as its systematic modeling. It also gives a fundamental overview of the diffirent types of plasma and their applications as the heat source for gasification of a given waste stream.