PAGMaW Plasma Arc Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste Thesis Presentation April 2, 2014 Celerick Stephens Masters Management (Marketing) Masters Engineering Science (Sustainability)

PAGMaW  Plasma gasification process overview  Benefits of plasma gasification of waste  Application and benefits of technology  Modeling the process  Next steps Agenda

What is plasma  Fourth state of matter  Ionized gas in which the number of free electrons nearly equals the number of free ions  Electric arcs  Neon bulbs  Lightning Overview

What is Plasma Gasification  Gasification is the process of changing one state of matter into a useful gas  Plasma gasification is applying high-energy gas (plasma) to gasify any solid  Plasma gasification  Severs molecular bonds of solids  Releases elemental gases and solids  Vitrifies precipitate solids  Allows for high temperature recombination of gases Overview

Plasma Gasification of Waste  Reduces/eliminates need for solid waste disposal  Vitrified waste is reduced (>90%)  Produces low-heating value “natural” gas (syngas) useful for power/heat production  Reduces carbon footprint  Reduces release of harmful products  Dioxins nearly eliminated  Vitrified wastes make harmful agents inert Benefits of Waste Gasification

Plasma Process In Real-World Usage  13 commissioned sites worldwide  Europe  Japan  United States  Hawaii*  Proven energy production exceeds energy requirements Application of Technology

Scaling the Technology  Unique application of technology on a smaller scale From 250 tons/day to 7 tons/day (or smaller)  Community Waste Disposal  Reduces waste transport energy  Reduces electrical transmission waste  Reduces cost of operation  Reduces electrical consumption  Supplements community heating Fast Facts  Americans generate 4 lbs trash/day  60% of MSW is landfilled (145 million tons)  We can bury Rhode Island each year  We use 1.5 billion gallons of fuel/yr to haul trash (1.4 million average daily drivers)  10% of the power produced is wasted in delivery (400 million MW-hrs/year)  US Line loss can power  NYC for 35 yrs or  France for 1 year (10 th largest consumer of electrical power in the world) Application of Technology

The Future Need  Economists show the United States as the Middle Class Model  Trends indicate unsustainable nature in energy consumption  Power cannot be created fast enough to match demand  Waste cannot be disposed fast enough to match demand Application of Technology

Scaled Plasma Gasification of Community Waste Modeling the Process  Waste stream  Plasma process  Power process  Heat recovery Functional Basis

Gasification Process Chemical equilibrium evaluation  Molecular decomposition of the waste stream  Proximate analysis  Ultimate analysis  Mass Balance  Molecular balance of constituents  Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen,  Soot (metals/glass)  Water (moisture content)  Heat Balance  Heat capacities  Heats of formation  HHV refuse derived fuel  Products of equilibrium is syngas  CO, CO2, H20, H2, CH4 Thermochemical Analysis

Results  Process independent of gasification temperature  Process scalable to waste stream input  Optimized waste recycling content apparent Gasification Modeling

Results Gasification Modeling

Scaled-Distributed Plasma Gasification of Community Waste  Waste stream  Plasma process  Power process  Heat recovery Facility Modeling

Next Steps  Complete energy cycle analysis  H2 Fuel Cell Integration  Waste stream size to support facility (net zero)  Waste stream size to support community (net zero)  Document challenges  Facility complexity  Noise  Location  Maintenance  Complexity of byproduct recycling  High temperature materials discharge  Waste gas reuse  Sour gas elimination Completing the Analysis