Creating Energy from Garbage

When we hear of landfill, there’s only one emotion that we tend to conjure up – disgust. But, in the near future, “disgusting” landfill can actually turn out to be a precious energy resource, thanks to new technologies.

We are specifically referring to a new and hope-offering process called “gasification”. Gasification is a process where carbon-based materials are converted to gas after heating them at extremely hot temperatures. The gas produced from the heating can actually serve as an energy source and more importantly, it can be stored.

According to the experts involved, gasification works on anything from textiles and plastic to biomass. Basically, anything that’s not rubble or metal. The gasified materials create what is called “syngas”, which is clean and combustible. It’s made up of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Now, the idea that led to the creation of gasification isn’t new. Even in the 19th century, we had gasification plants. These plants would heat coal to create coal gas, which was then used to support heating and lighting. But, gasification went out of style after natural gas made an entry.

But, in the last two decades or so, gasification seems to have made a comeback, but on a more microscopic scale.

However, the modern methods of gasification have greatly evolved and we can now work with a range of materials. In other words, there’s hope for a better future.

The Process

The process involves heating without combustion. You see, hydrocarbon materials breakdown without burning at about 700°C. When they break down, they produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which functions as a fuel.

Now, generally, burning hydrocarbon materials results in the production of pollutants such as tar. But, tar is actually just a more complex hydrocarbon. In gasification, we can go up to 1200°C and that allows us to break down tar as well.

So, there are no pollutants being produced through gasification. In fact, syngas is of such a high-quality that it can directly be funneled into high-efficiency gas engines. It can produce energy with double the efficiency of a steam turbine that relies on traditional gasification.

A firm called CHO Power has already developed a gasification plant in Morcenx, France, where the process allows for the production of 11 megawatts of energy. This is achieved through the gasification of about 55,000 tons of biomass, industrial waste, and wood.

The EU now plans to offer a loan of 30 million Euros to fund another plant.

Challenges

The issue with gasification is that it costs a lot to carry out and that can be counterproductive. But, this is being solved through the small-scale gasification approach. A firm called Hysytech has developed a reactor called a fluidised bed that is designed to enable small-scale gasification.

When carbon-based waste is fed to the reactor, a fluid is also passed through to enable temperature regulation and to create an easy passage for the gas. The fluid supply can also be regulated according to the burn time required for various materials.

Hysytech has created a test plant that runs on this reactor. The plant currently turns 10 kilos of landfill into syngas every hour.