PLASMA GASIFICATION OF

SOLID WASTE

PRESENTED BY,

EBIN ELDHO
AXAOEME025
S8 MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
AXISCET
 INTRODUCTION
• Rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to
increase in solid waste and depletion of natural
energy resources.
• The solid waste “ problem”is solution to our energy
needs.
• Solid waste management need to adopt some
strategies such as material recycling,elimination of
landfilling disposals ,resource recovery through waste
processing,biological and thermal process result in
recover of compost and energy.
 GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
qGlobal generation of Solid Waste will double by 2025.
qSolid waste generated by 300 million people living in
urban India is 30 million tonnes per year.
q1,00,000 MT SW generation every day in India.
qSW is the only alternative waste to energy
generation.SW supplies 10% of global power.
qThe high heating value of SW indicates the need of
waste to energy plants.
qPlasma gasification is the unique opportunity to
mitigate the above challenges.
 METHODS BEING USED FOR
REMOVAL OF WASTE
• Landfilling.
•Oldest method,waste disposed in
landfills.
•Waste digested anaerobically and
produce biogas used as source of
heating.

• Incineration
•Mass burn technology in presence of
oxygen.
•Waste burn in incinerators and
converted into ash and harmful
greenhouse gases.
• Pyrolysis
•Thermal treatment in the absence of oxygen at
low temperature.
•Syngas,pyrolysis liquid and coke obtained as
products.
• Gasification
•Partial oxidation of waste at high temperature.
•Products are low quality syngas,slag and metals

• Plasma gasification
•Waste is converted into syngas and vitrified slag at very high temperature.
•No emission of greenhouse gases.
 ORIGIN OF PLASMA
• Plasma is the fourth state of matter.
• Discovered by British physicist Sir William
Crookes in 1879.
• Heating a gas at very high temperature lead to
ionization of atoms and turns it into plasma.
• Natural plasma can be seen in lightning, sun,
stars, comets etc.
• Firstly used by metal industry in 1800 in
metallurgical, mechanical operations and in
1900 chemical industry made acetylene from
natural gas.
• Plasma technology was used by NASA in 1960
and became popular.
 PLASMA
• Plasma consist high electrical conductivity, more
independently acting species, high velocity particles and
particles interact at long range through electric or magnetic
forces.
• The plasma torches create the flow of plasma by using a 650 V
DC or AC and generate the temperature of about 2000-
20,000°C.
PLASMA GASIFICATION
PROCESS
 FEEDSTOCK
• Muncipal solid waste. •Low level radioactive waste

• Biomedical waste.
•Waste coal.
• Steel scrap. •Incinerator ash

• Asbestos and asbestos containing material.

 PLASMA + GASIFICATION
• Plasma gasification is a process which converts
organic matter into synthetic gas, electricity, and slag
using plasma. A plasma torch powered by an electric
arc, is used to ionize gas and catalyze organic matter
into synthetic gas and solid waste (slag).

• Plasma is a fourth state of matter.

• Man made plasma produced by plasma torches using

electricity as a heating source and air as ionized gas.
 GASIFICATION
• Process that converts carbon-containing materials
(MSW, biomass, coal, etc.) into a synthesis gas

• Syngas = carbon monoxide(CO) and hydrogen(H)

• Syngas is a “
cleaner”fuel than the original solid
feedstock, resulting in cleaner emissions
(reduced NOx, SO2)
PLASMA GASIFIER
qGasifier is the central
component of the plasma
gasification process.
qThe plasma arc converts
organic waste into synthetic gas
and inorganic material into
vitrified slag.
qThe chemical reactions take
place are
C + H2O = CO + H2
C + CO2 = 2CO
 PRODUCTS
• The major products are synthesis gas and vitrified
slag.
• Syngas has a high temperature which is cooled
down through heat recovery units.
• Syngas can be used as a fuel for electricity
generation.
• Rock like vitrified slag can be used as construction
aggregates.
• Other products are hydrochloric acid, hydrogen
sulphide obtained from syngas cleaning.
COMPARISON BETWEEN PLASMA
GASIFICATION AND ORDINARY
INCINERATION
 ADVANTAGES
• Clean destruction of hazardous waste.
• Production of value-added products (metals) from slag.
• Production of vitrified slag which could be used as
construction material.
• Processing of organic waste into
combustible syngas for electric power and thermal
energy.
• Financial aid obtained from the sale of recyclables
removed.
• Tipping fees from the waste collected.
 DISADVANTAGES
• Emission of carbondioxide eventhough in low
amounts.
• High initial investment than landfill.
• Comparitively high maintenance.
• Requires high input energy.
 CONCLUSION
• Plasma gasification holds a potential to add to the supply
of renewable energy resource in these times of uncertain
energy supplies.
• Any material can be processed in plasma arc system. To
achieve a favorable energy balance the volume of
inorganic should be minimized.
• There is no emission of harmful greenhouse gases.
Concentrations of dioxins are very low as compared to
incineration due to high temperature.
• Plasma gasification technology has a high operating cost
and capital cost due to high electrical power requirement
 REFERENCES
• 2009 BP statistical review of world BP plc.57 th

edition 45p.
• Lisa Zyga (2012) plasma gasification
transforms garbage into clean energy,science
blogger.Inventorspot.com
• Helsen.L,2000 low temperature pyrolysis of
CCA treated wood
waste.PhD.Thesis,Heverlee,KU Leven.
• Manual of solid waste 2008
THANK YOU