6th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production

Title: Analysis of MSW to Energy Conversion Process for Sustainable Community

Hossam A.Gabbar, Mohamed Aboughaly

Industrial Partner: Janak Handa, ProFlange Inc.

Presentation Contents1.MSW Management as an Emerging Technology2.Pyrolysis and Gasification Flow Diagrams3.Waste to Energy Process Systems

1.Thermal and Electrical Efficiency2.Electricity Production and Operating Conditions

4.Life Cycle Assessment for Waste to Energy Process Systems5.Utilization of Thermal Plasma in Waste to Energy Systems6.ESCL – UOIT Experimental Work7.Conclusion8.Publications9.References

1. MSW Management as an Emerging Technology

Municipal solid wastewitnessed an exponentialglobal increase due toplastic, paper and organicmaterial high productionwithout consideringappropriate recyclingstrategies (Waste: AHandbook for Management ,2011) Figure 1 - World bank MSW mass composition

1. MSW Management as an Emerging Technology

Study also reveals that Canadaand the US generates enormousamount of waste per capita of778.36 kg/capita and 744kg/capita respectively, whilecountries like China emits 172million tons annually ( Theconference board of Canada,Municipal Waste generation ,2013)

Figure 1 - World bank MSW mass composition

1. MSW Management as an Emerging Technology

As seen on Figure 1, recyclingis still a minor activity incomparison with otherpractices such as landfillingand incineration(Environmental life-cyclecomparisons of recycling,landfilling and incineration: Areview of Recent Studies,R.A.Denison, 1996) Figure 1 - World bank MSW mass composition

1. MSW Management as an Emerging Technology

Chemical recycling is the mostpromising new technology toutilize MSW for electricityproduction and can be used toproduce chemicals by syngasFischer-Tropsch process(M.Li,N.Luo, Biomass EnergyTechnological Paradigm (BETP):Trends in this sector MDPI,Sustainability , 2017)

Figure 1 - World bank MSW mass composition

Figure 2 - MSW production per region in 2012 and 2015

2. Pyrolysis and Gasification Flow Diagrams• Waste thermal treatment: The waste is heated to elevated temperatures in a reaction

chamber (i.e. pyrolysis 500 - 900℃, gasification 900℃ - 1500℃) (A.Kumar, D.D.Jones,Thermochemical biomass gasification: A review of the current status technology, 2009)

• The processes can be used for any solid wastes releasing hydrocarbon products and thermalenergy

Municipal solid waste

Organic material

Inorganic material

Combustible material

Others

Pyrolysis and Gasification

Incineration

Lanfill

Air Residue/Slag

Hydrocarbon products

Electricity production

Thermal energy

Methane release

Figure 3 - MSW chemical recycling flowchart

L.Jewell, G.Hutchings, Hydrocarbon conversion in the production ofsynthetic fuels: general discussion, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017

Figure 4 - MSW chemical recycling end products flowchart

Pyrolysis( 550 to 900 C )

Heating rate : 1 k/s

Gasification(1000 to 1300 C)

Heating rate: 1000 k/s

Gasoline Oil

Diesel Oil

Hydrocarbon Gas

Syngas

Tar

Gas TurbineBoiler Gas

BurnerHigh Pressure Steam Turbine

Electricity Grid

Syngas synthesis

Ammonia

Chemicals

Methanol

Chemical Upgrading

Combustion Engines

Gasoline

Kerosene

Urea Fertilizers

Acetic Acid

Refinery Fuels

Thermal process Thermal efficiency Electrical efficiency

Average (%) Average (%)

Incineration 44 19

Gasification 30 34

Pyrolysis 70.3 15.25

Combined gasification -

pyrolysis

40 35

Pyrolysis has highest thermal efficiency followed by Incineration and combinedpyrolysis-gasification cycle (A.M.Shakorfow Biomass. Incineration, Pyrolysis,Combustion and Gasification, 2013)• Pyrolysis has low thermal electrical efficiency due to production of fossil fuels rather

than syngas• Gasification and combined pyrolysis-gasification has highest electrical efficiency (D.

A. T.Astrup, "Life cycle assessment of thermal waste-to- energy technologies: Reviewand recommendations," Elsevier, Waste Management, vol. 37, p. 104 –115, 2015)

3. Waste to Energy Process Systems

Table 1 - Thermal and Electrical Efficiency data

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

INCINERATION PYROLYSIS PYROLYSIS /GASIFICATION

GASIFICATION

544 571

685 685

Ele

ctri

c p

rod

uct

ion

(K

Wh

) p

er

Ton

MSW thermal treatment processes

KWh

Electricity Production and Operating Conditions

Gasification and combined pyrolysis-gasification(P-G) processes shows highest electricity production

(G.C.Young, "Economic, technical, and renewable comparisons," in Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Conversion Processes, , Wiley, 2010, p.2)

Figure 5 - MSW thermal treatment electricity production

• Pyrolysis has three different reactions with different operating parameters

• Slow pyrolysis

• Fast pyrolysis

• Flash pyrolysis

• For MSW flash and fast pyrolysis are the most common for MSW , however for plasticwaste, pyrolysis is the most common

• MSW flash pyrolysis and gasification are considered continuous processes

Electricity Production and Operating Conditions

Slow pyrolysis Fast

pyrolysis

Flash pyrolysis Gasification

Pyrolysis temperature

(K)

573 - 973 873 - 1273 >1073 > 1273.15

Heating rate (K/ min) 0.1 to 1 10 to 200 >1000 >1000

Residence time (min) 5-9 <1 <0.01 <0.01

Table 2 - MSW Pyrolysis and gasification operating conditions

4. Life Cycle Assessment for Waste to Energy Process Systems

• Amount of syngas producedfrom 1 ton of MSW varybetween 0.8 – 1.1 nm3/kg.Below are the expectedgaseous emissions for MSWincineration, pyrolysis andgasification thermal systems

• In compared with Incineration,pyrolysis has less CO2, NOx,SOx, HCl and CO emissions( HClformation from RDF pyrolysisand combustion in a spouting-moving bed reactor, energy &fuels, ACS, 16 (3) 2002)

WTE process Gaseous effluent Mass percentage

IncinerationCO2 7.31 wt%

NOx 0.134 wt%

SO2 0.0335 wt%

HCl 0.00672 wt%

CO 0.0336 wt%

Dioxins and furans 0.0672 wt%

Pyrolysis &Gasification

CO2 0 wt% for pyrolysis

58% for Gasification

NOx 0.0147 wt%

SO2 0.000062 wt%

HCl 0.000407 wt%

CO 0.0091 wt%

Dioxins and furans 3.12 x 10-12 wt%

Table 3 - MSW pyrolysis, gasification and incineration emissions

5. Utilization of Thermal Plasma in Waste to Energy Systems

1. Large Plasma Channel

2. Small Plasma Channel

3. Cooling Gas Channel

Figure 6 - Plasma array generator (PAG) Figure 7 - PAG temperature simulation Figure 8 - PAG mechanical design

Thermal Plasma Models1. PAG-1 Model

• Product functions: Inductively Couple RF Plasma Torch Array

• Electric Specifications

• Input power type: 208 VAC

• RF power level: 1 kW2. PAG-20 Model

• Product functions: Inductively Couple RF Plasma Torch Array

• Electric Specifications

• Input power type: 380 VAC

• RF power level: 20 kW

3. PAG-80 Model

• Product functions: Inductively Couple RF Plasma Torch Array

• Electric Specifications

• Input power type: 380 VAC

• RF power level: 80 kW

4. PAG-200 Model

• Product functions: Inductively Couple RF Plasma Torch Array

• Electric Specifications

• Input power type: 380 VAC

• RF power level: 200 kW

6. Thermal Plasma in Waste to Energy Systems

•Advantages of thermal plasma systems

• Rapid heating and reactor start-up

• High heat and reactant transfer rates

• Melting of high temperature materials

• Usage of electricity as the energy source1. Large Plasma Channel

2. Small Plasma Channel

3. Cooling Gas Channel

Thermal plasma process system integration

Figure 9 - Thermal plasma integration in waste to energy (WTE) systems

6. Energy Safety and Control Lab – UOIT Experimental Work

Pyrolysis Reactor

Nitrogen Gas

P-1

2. Vacuum Pump

P-3

6. Oil Collector

K -Type Thermocouple

7.Mass scale

8. Gas Chromatograph

Cooling Water Condenser

Plasma arc

V-2

P-4

V-1

V-3

Advantages of thermal plasma systems

• rapid heating and reactor start-up

• High heat and reactant transfer rates

• Melting of high temperature materials

• Usage of electricity as the energy source

Figure 10 - Thermal plasma plastic to oil pyrolysis experimental setup

Figure 12 - DC thermal plasma emissions

Ceramic nozzle emissions

Figure 11 - Oil sample collected from 15 g LDPE at 540℃ and 30 minutes in pyrolysis (Nitrogen) Conditions

9. MSW Pilot Plant Schematic Diagram

Land Area : 300 square metres

Plasma-Based Plastic to Oil Pyrolysis Process

Computers for Instrumentation

Instruments and Data

AcquisitionElectronics

for Equipment

RF Generator, HV DC Supply

Plasma Array Generator

Compressed Nitrogen

Turbine Generator

Gasifier

Plasma Array Generator (PAG) for Waste-to-Energy

High Performance Plasma Experimentation for Clean Energy and Industrial Applications

7. Conclusion

• The exponential increase of MSW justifies the priority of pyrolysisand gasification over incineration and landfilling treatments

• Pyrolysis and gasification produces hydrocarbon liquids and gasesrespectively which can be utilized for combustion and electricitygeneration

• The electricity generation of both chosen thermal process are higherthan incineration with higher CO2 emissions and lower SO2, dioxins,HCl and carbon monoxide emissions

• Maximum electrical efficiency is achieved by combined gasification-pyrolysis process around 35 % and minimum electrical efficiency ofonly 19% is achieved by incineration due to only thermal energyrelease

8. Publications

1. An energy evaluation For thermal conversion of thermoplastic waste torefined oil products using pyrolysis reaction process system , InternationalJournal Of Process Systems Engineering (IJPSE) , Vol.4, No.1, 2016

2. Comparative study of MSW heat treatment processes and electricitygeneration, Journal of the Energy Institute , May 2017

3. Analysis of MSW to energy conversion process for sustainable community,6th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production, San Paulo,Brazil ,2017 ( Accepted)

9. References

1. T.Letcher, D.Vallero, Waste: A handbook for management , 2011

2. The conference board of Canada, Municipal waste generation , 2013

3. R.A.Denison, Environmental life-cycle comparisons of recycling, landfilling and incineration: A review of recentStudies, 1996

4. M.Li, N.Luo, Y.Lu, Biomass Energy Technological Paradigm (BETP):Trends in this sector, Sustainability, MDPI, 9 , 5672017

5. A.Kumar, D.D.Jones, Thermochemical biomass gasification: A review of the current status technology, 2009

6. A.M.Shakorfow, Biomass, incineration, pyrolysis, combustion and gasification, International Journal of Science andResearch (IJSR), 2013

7. D. A. T.Astrup, "Life cycle assessment of thermal waste-to- energy technologies: Review and recommendations,"Elsevier, Waste Management, vol. 37, p. 104 –115, 2015.

8. G.C.Young, "Economic, technical, and renewable comparisons," in Municipal Solid Waste to Energy ConversionProcesses, , Wiley, 2010, p.2

9. Z.Wang, H.Huang, H.Li, C.Wu, Y.Chen, HCl formation from RDF pyrolysis and combustion in a spouting-moving bedreactor, energy & fuels, ACS , 16 (3) 2002

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