Waste Processing

Plasma gasification represents a clean and efficient option to manage waste in an environmentally responsible manner. The WPC plasma gasification technology is ideally suited to process waste such as Municipal Solid Waste, common hazardous waste, industrial waste, chemical waste, sediment sludge and biomass. As well as, it can also vitrify fly ash from incinerators and any other types of ash. Converting waste into various energy outputs or power reduces our reliance on the use of conventional fossil based fuels by using readily available waste.

WPC has experience in treating difficult waste materials including:

• Common Hazardous Waste
• River and Harbour Sediment
• Chemicals Destruction
• Spent Catalyst Recovery

	Pune, India — Hazardous Waste Processing Facility
Kinuura, Japan — Ash Vitrification Facility

Incineration	Plasma Gasification
Oxidation completed using excess air to form CO2	Gasification completed using partial oxidation and water shift reaction to form mainly H2 & CO
Yields bottom ash requiring disposal in special landfills.	Yields an inert vitreous slag suitable for aggregate use.
Yields hazardous fly ash that requires alternate disposal or treatment.	Fly ash combined with molten slag and rendered inert.
Limited to steam cycle power generation with a typical thermal efficiency of 15% from input.	Ability to run steam cycle, combined cycle or produce transportation fuels depending on configuration allowing for higher thermal efficiencies. In addition, WPC gasification offers the ability to sequester CO, H2 or CO2 for chemical industry use.

Plasma gasification also offers a means of achieving the high temperatures required for the safe destruction of many hazardous and toxic wastes. Materials, such as PCBs, dioxins, DDT, furans, halogenated hydrocarbons, as well as military chemical agents, pose serious problems to the environment and to the public.

Facilities employing a plasma process for the destruction of such materials have resulted in safe disposals with emissions below regulatory requirements. Plasma gasification of typical hazardous waste generates almost eight to ten times as much energy per unit of waste than the energy required to destroy the waste. As well, compared to conventional waste management strategies, plasma gasification is able to recover more energy from residual waste and also recycle all the solid by-products of the remaining residue.

Comparison on Waste-to-Energy Criteria Pollutants

CO₂ Equivalent Emissions per Unit of Power Generated

“One technology which potentially can use various types of waste, produce electricity and hydrogen without emitting dioxin, furan and mercury, is plasma arc technology. Municipalities can install a plasma arc facility which will eliminate land filling …” – EPA

Commercially Proven

Commercial applications have been in operation in Japan since 2002. The Eco-Valley plant in Utashinai, Japan, which Hitachi Metals, Ltd. partially owns and fully operates, uses WPC technology. Eco-Valley transforms up to 280 tonnes per day (tpd) of MSW and auto shredder residue into steam and electricity. The Eco-Valley facility currently provides 1.5 MW of net electricity output to the grid. Maximizing power output isn’t the primary objective of the Eco-Valley facility, and if the plant was designed to optimize power output using a combined cycle mode, it could produce up to 12.0 MW. Hitachi Metals also commissioned a facility between the towns of Mihama and Mikata in Japan that processes 20 tpd of MSW and four tonnes per day of sewage sludge. Both Japanese facilities meet all environmental regulatory requirements including extremely low levels of dioxins and furans.

Plasma gasification is commercially proven and viable, while also meeting all current regulatory requirements. Plasma gasification is positioned to take hold as a practical, economical and environmentally responsible alternative to conventional forms of waste disposal and power generation.