A Presentation on

Challenges
Global generation of Solid Waste will double by 2025.
Solid waste generated by 300 million people living in urban
India is 30 million tonnes per year.
1,00,000 MT SW generation every day in India.
Opportunities
SW is the only alternative waste to energy generation. SW
supplies 10% of global power.
The high heating value of SW indicates the need of waste to
energy plants.
Plasma gasification is the unique opportunity to mitigate the
above challenges.
 Oldest method, waste disposed in landfills.
Land filling Waste digested anaerobically and produce
biogas used as source of heating.
Mass burn technology in presence of oxygen
Incineration Waste burn in incinerators and converted into
ash and harmful greenhouse gases.
Thermal treatment in the absence of oxygen at
low temperature.
Pyrolysis Syngas, pyrolysis liquid and coke obtained as
products.
Partial oxidation of waste at high temperature.
Gasification Products are low quality syngas, slag and
metals.

Plasma Waste is converted into syngas and

vitrified slag at very high temperature.
Gasification No emission of greenhouse gases.
Process Electricity Plasma
production advantage
(kWh/ton)
Incineration 544 50%

Pyrolysis 571 40%

Conventional 685 20%

Gasification
Plasma arc 816 -
Gasification
 Origin of Plasma
Plasma is a 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, comet
etc.
Firstly used by metal industry in 1800 in metallurgical,
mechanical operations and in 1900 chemical industry made
acetylene from natural gas.
Plasma technology used by NASA in 1960 and become
popular.
Plasma consists high electrical conductivity, more
independently acting species, high velocity particles and
particles interact at long range through electric or magnetic
forces.
Man made plasma produced by plasma torches using
electricity as a heating source and air as ionized gas.
The plasma torches create the flow of plasma by using a
650V DC or AC and generate the temperature of about
2000-20,000C.
Municipal Biomedical Asbestos and
solid waste waste asbestos
Low level Waste coal containing
radioactive material
Steel scrap
waste Incinerator
ash
Plasma Gasifier
Gasifier is the central component of the
plasma gasification process.
The gasifier equipped with its components
plasma torches, air or oxygen as ionized gas
and feedstock.
The plasma arc converts organic waste into
synthetic gas and inorganic material into
vitrified slag.
The gasifier is maintained under negative
pressure about -5mm due to minor air in
leakage.
The inside of vessel lined with refractory and
sealed with stainless steel.
The chemical reactions take place are
C + H2O CO + H2
C + CO2 2CO
 The major products are synthesis gas and
vitrified slag.
Syngas has a high temperature cooled down
through heat recovery units.
Syngas as a fuel for electricity generation.
Rock like vitrified slag as construction
aggregates.
Other products are hydrochloric acid, hydrogen
sulfide obtained from syngas cleaning.
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
 2009 BP statistical review of world BP plc.
57th edition 45p.
Lisa Zyga (2012) plasma gasification
transforms garbage into clean energy, science
blogger. Inventorspot.com, via: popular
science
Helsen, L.,2000 low temperature pyrolysis of
CCA treated wood waste. PhD. Thesis,
Heverlee, KU Leven.
Manual of solid waste 2008