Our Technology
The Plasco Conversion System is designed to convert each tonne of municipal solid waste into marketable products and clean synthetic fuel gas that is used to produce electricity. The conversion process occurs in an oxygen-deprived environment where process temperatures are carefully controlled. The resulting synthetic fuel gas, or “PlascoSyngas”, is rich in energy and is used to operate internal combustion engines that generate electricity. The inert materials contained in the waste, such as metal, dirt and glass components, which cannot be converted into fuel, form a slag product. Once cooled, the slag is completely inert and stable and can be sold as aggregate for roads or construction materials.
Each tonne of waste becomes:
The entire Plasco Conversion System is tightly controlled by a sophisticated real-time computer system. This is critical to the efficient conversion of mixed waste streams like municipal waste. System conditions from start to finish are monitored constantly and adjusted to ensure optimal results from both stages.
Stage I - Waste Conversion and Refinement
Waste is fed into the primary chamber of the Converter where the material is gasified by recycled heat from the gases exiting the refining chamber. The crude syngas rises to the refining chamber where there are two plasma torches. The gasified product from the primary chamber contains carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and tars. This gas is refined into a cleaner and lighter gas in the refining chamber through the catalytic effect of plasma. Process air and plasma are adjusted to maintain the desired process chamber conditions. All long chain hydrocarbons are destroyed in the process. Since process heat is recycled to the converter, plasma is never applied directly to the garbage. Instead it is used as a highly efficient way to refine the resulting gas.
With the Plasco Conversion System, the fuel gas is cleaned prior to generating electricity. After passing through the heat recovery unit, the gas flows to the Gas Quality Control Suite (GQCS) where the gas is cooled and cleaned of particulates, metals and acid components. All of the process units that comprise the GQCS have been extensively used and proven in other industries that process gas. Agricultural sulfur and commercial salt are recovered from the GQCS processes.
The solid residue from the primary chamber is sent to a separate high-temperature chamber equipped with a plasma torch where it is melted. Plasma heat is used to stabilize the solids by driving off any remaining volatile compounds, which are then fed back into the conversion chamber. The melted material is cooled into small solid pellets. This vitrified residue is an inert, non-hazardous, glass-like solid. Leachability tests have been conducted on the solid material emerging from the process and have confirmed that it does not leach and is not toxic. According to the tests, it is safer than a common soda bottle and is valuable as construction aggregate for roads, concrete, or other building materials.
At the end of the conversion process, more than 99% of the residual waste sent to a Plasco facility is converted into valuable products. For each tonne of waste, approximately 1.3 kilograms of heavy metals and filter screenings require disposal. These heavy metals are due to improper disposal of hazardous waste, such as batteries, by the public and are not created in the conversion process. The moisture recovered from the waste is cleaned, and is suitable for irrigation or for use in industrial processes.
Stage II - Power Generation
Power generation in the Plasco system is very similar to generation from natural gas. The synthetic fuel gas created through the conversion system is used to run internal combustion engines. Because the gas is cleaned prior to being sent to the engines, the exhaust from the engines is clean. Additional electricity is produced through power generation using captured waste heat from the engines and from the waste conversion process in stage I. This is referred to as combined cycle generation. In some cases, it might also be appropriate to use the heat for industrial processes or district heating. This is called co-generation.
The Plasco Conversion System is the only technology in the world that has demonstrated the ability to convert municipal solid waste into a consistent enough fuel gas to run a conventional reciprocating engine like the GE Jenbacher. This also means that it is the only waste conversion technology that can harness the benefits of combined cycle and co-generation. That is what makes the Plasco Conversion System the only technology that can recover more than a megawatt-hour of net power per tonne of waste processed.
Plasco Conversion Compared to Incineration
Plasco is not incineration. The table below describes the differences between the two technologies:
