Plasmas—also known as the fourth state of matter—are gases that have been heated to thAe point of ionization and passed between two electrodes that create an electrical arc.
This arc breaks waste down primarily into elemental gas and solid waste (or slag) in a device called a plasma converter. Charged particles such as electrons conduct electricity and generate heat equivalent to the surface temperature of the sun. The heat rips apart compounds and converts inorganic solids (vitrified ash) into glass-like substances that can be marketed to the construction industry as aggregate for use in blocks, brick, gravel and paper. Meanwhile, the process transforms organic materials into syngas that can be converted into electricity and liquid fuels. The entire conversion process occurs in containment so no emissions are released.
“[Plasma gasification] is finally becoming very cost effective,” says Lou Circeo, director of plasma gasification research at Georgia Tech Research Institute. Circeo has been involved with plasma gasification technology for more than 30 years and is considered an expert in the field. He says that one of the key advantages of plasma gasification is the flexibility of feedstock types it can convert. “As a matter of fact, it’s almost like the ‘perfect storm’ right now,” he says. “We’ve finally reached a point where it’s actually going to be cheaper to take garbage to a plasma plant and make energy than it is to take the garbage and just dump it into a landfill.”
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Commercial plasma gasification facilities haven’t gained much traction in the United States yet, but they are catching on in other countries. Japan has three plants in operation: a 166 ton-per-day pilot plant in Yoshi, co-developed by Hitachi Metals Ltd. and Westinghouse Plasma Corp., which was certified after a demonstration period from 1999-’00; a 165-ton-per-day plant in Utashinai City, completed in 2002; and a 28 ton-per-day plant commissioned by the twin cities of Mihama and Mikata in 2002. PlascoEnergy Group currently employs a plasma-arc waste demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada, at the Trail Road Landfill while Advanced Plasma Power has built a Gasplasma modular test facility in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, England.
The question is, with plasma gasification being touted as holding inherent advantages over conventional incineration, landfill and/or burying methods and is being employed internationally, why isn’t there one single commercial-scale plasma gasification facility operating in the United States?
“The main reason is because with any new technology you generally cannot get it financed,” says Jeff Surma, president and chief executive officer of InEnTec Chemical LLC, adding that it typically costs about $1 million to $300 million to implement.
Formed by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Battelle and General Electric, the Bend, Ore.-based company developed a proprietary Plasma Enhanced Melter gasification system that’s used in small-scale operations in Hawaii, Japan and Malaysia for disposing of hazardous waste. Domestically, the company is deploying its PEM technology on a commercial scale in Reno, Nev. The project, named Sierra BioFuels, will be owned by Fulcram BioEnergy Inc., which is also providing design, finance and construction services. InEnTec’s newly-created subsidiary, InEnTec Energy Solutions LLC, will have a minority stake in the project.
When it begins operating in early 2010, the Sierra BioFuels plant is expected to produce approximately 10.5 MMgy of ethanol and process about 90,000 tons of MSW per year. In addition to the Reno project, InEnTec says it has contracts with Dow Corning Corp. and Veolia Environmental Services to build the nation’s first plasma-based gasification process to recycle hazardous waste using the company’s PEM technology at Dow Corning’s plant in Midland, Mich. The PEM facility will be operated by Veolia. “The only way to build these plants is to go get pure equity and that’s a little different than debt,” Surma says. “You give away a lot when you raise equity. It’s a balance of trying to raise enough equity to build those first ones—two or three plants will then allow you to get more traditional project financing.”
Developers see feasibility studies as a springboard to prove the technology and get more facilities built in the United States.
Focusing on Feasibility
No doubt developers will be keeping their eyes on International Falls, Minn. An extensive feasibility study was launched in late June for a proposed biomass waste-to-energy plasma gasification project in the small town in Koochiching County. Westinghouse Plasma is heading the preliminary design work for the gasification reactor and design of the torch. Minneapolis-based plasma gasification consulting and development company Coronol LLC is serving as the lead developer and project manager. The feasibility study is being independently reviewed by Seattle-based advisory firm R.W. Beck. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is overseeing the study, which was funded by the state of Minnesota.
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