Review

Technological aspects for thermal plasma treatment of municipal

solid wasteA review
Biswajit Ruj
a,
, Subhajyoti Ghosh
b
a
Thermal Engineering Department, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur 713209, India
b
Mechanical Department, GDGWI-Lancaster University, India
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 19 February 2014
Received in revised form 5 May 2014
Accepted 12 May 2014
Available online 7 June 2014
Keywords:
Thermal plasma
MSW
Syngas
The 21st century earth is a new world, with numerous urban areas, exponentially growing population, global
warming, global markets and with it, increased consumerismwhich has led us to amass huge amounts of munic-
ipal solid waste (MSW). This waste is difcult to manage using conventional methods and is ever increasing,
blocking essential space that has become an expensive commodity in today's world. Conventional techniques
such as combustion/incineration have been the conventionally preferred method of waste management for sev-
eral nations in lieu of land-lling, releasing toxic emissions onto an already over polluted environment. In this
paper we shall explore a novel MSWmanagement technology in the formof plasma torches and thermal plasma
treatment that enables us to reduce waste density by as much as 95%, without any toxic emissions, while produc-
ing a synthetic gas as by-product. Synthetic gas or syngas is presently being used to generate energy. Some re-
searchers are also exploring the possibility of hydrogen extraction through this route. This paper discusses the
current limitations of this technology and highlights a few researches that are being conducted around the
world that may soon take this concept from technical feasibility to practical reality.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
1.1. MSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
1.2. Plasma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
1.3. Plasma generators (torches) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
2. Thermal plasma treatment of MSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
2.1. Plasma gasication & industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
2.2. Plasma gasication: future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
3. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
1. Introduction
Since the beginning of industrial revolutioninthe 18thcentury there
has beena steady growthinurbanpopulationas more people fromrural
areas were migrating into cities to be part of a revolution that would
provide people with jobs, food and clothing. This was the beginning of
the creation of an urban consumer market. The concept of consumerism
grew with the development of new technologies that gave people ac-
cess to a variety of products in huge quantities with substantially consis-
tent quality and by 1939 the concept of consumerism grew on a global
scale as more countries such as Germany, France and the USA, following
the example of the British Empire, had rapidly developed their industri-
al capabilities. The end of the Second World War and the rise of the USA
as a new superpower, saw a new form of consumerismthe consump-
tion of products in huge quantities, not just limited to those that are
considered essentials to fuel economic growth [1].
The growth of consumerism meant that the supply of products
must be unhindered. Industry grewandalong withit the demandfor la-
bour. The World Health Organisation reports that in the beginning of
Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
Corresponding author at: Principal Scientist Thermal Engineering Department CSIR-
Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) M.G. Avenue, Durgapur-
713209 India. Tel.: +91-343-6452156.
E-mail address: biswajitruj@yahoo.co.in (B. Ruj).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.05.011
0378-3820/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Fuel Processing Technology
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ f upr oc
the 20th century, 20% of the population dwelled in urban areas, by 1990
that number rose to a little less than 40% and is expected to rise to a
staggering 70% by 2050. These statistics show that there is a growing
trend in people migrating into urban areas for better job, lifestyle and
livelihood [2]. The increase in urban population and the steady rise in
consumption have adverse effects on the environment such as rapid
global population increase (currently the global population stands at
7.2 billion people and rising as per United Nation's Department of Eco-
nomic and Social Affairs [3]) and the generation of huge quantities of
municipal solid waste (MSW) is increasing along with the increasing
numbers of urban dwellers (Table. 1). While most countries do not
regard population increase as an immediate threat, the excessive accu-
mulation of MSW has led to major concerns in the developed and de-
veloping nations [4,6] as conventional methods [4,810] are not able
to effectively dispose off the waste at rates at which they are being
generated. While MSW recycling is essential it is dependent on the
government's motivation to take the necessary measures to promote
awareness. However the generation of waste will continue to grow
making it essential for us to formulate a solution to effectively manage
waste regardless of geographical or income of a country, factors that
play an important role.
Accumulation of waste results in decomposition and harmful emis-
sion of gases and some methods of storage require large tracts of land
which are becoming increasingly valuable with increase in population.
The World Bank reports that there are presently three billion urban res-
idents generating 1.2 kg per person per day of MSWand that number is
projected to grow to 4.3 billion urban residents generating 1.42 kg per
person per day of MSWby 2025 [4]. Hence an unconventional yet effec-
tive solution is required whichcan be found in the formof thermal plas-
ma pyrolysis which this paper seeks to explore.
1.1. MSW
MSW has various compositions, varying from region to region,
country to country and from people to people based on their income,
lifestyle/culture, climate, energy sources andeconomic afuence. Devel-
oping countries such as India and China, with a rapidly growing urban
population, produce MSW which is mostly organic in nature, such as
food scraps, wood, leaves, and process residues fromfarms whereas de-
veloped countries with a wealthier population show higher consump-
tions ininorganic materials suchas plastic, paper, metal, ande-wastes [4].
E-wastes are essentially discarded electronic appliances such as
computers, cellular devices, televisions or components suchas discarded
mother boards, and processors (this may consist of carcinogenic heavy
metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, which dees other forms of
processing and may enter our food cycle throughwater andsoil contam-
ination, if not treated/neutralised effectively), due to e-waste high de-
gree of mercury contamination can be expected in MSW [5].
The MSW composition cannot be simply categorised as organic and
inorganic wastes. Industrial wastes, mostly inorganic such as plastic,
tyres, metal components and medical wastes such as soiled bandages,
syringes, cotton, and plastics are infectious wastes or red bag wastes
which may be contagious and pose health and environmental hazards
[1416], and therefore are required to be segregated from the typical
waste pile gathered from residential areas. The World Bank reports
that while countries with high income have a collection rate of 98%,
low income countries have a very low collection rate of a mere 48%
even though a substantially large amount of their municipalities'
waste management budget goes into collection; separation of various
types of wastes is generator dependent, however in regions with low-
income, the generators have insufcient knowledge and motivation to
categorise and separate their waste and their governments lack funding
and/or the inclination to prioritise sorting, post collection. So it must be
assumed that the presence of industrial and medical wastes is highly
probable in MSWs if sourced from regions of low income or with poor
waste management policies [4]. Although medical wastes and industrial
wastes may require special processing, it has been established that ther-
mal plasma pyrolysis techniques can be used to treat both medical
wastes [10,12,14,16] and industrial wastes [11,13,1620], generating
syngas without producing any toxic by-product and using it for energy
generation.
There are no specic data available on the composition of MSW,
making it difcult to determine a standard. However the WorldBank re-
ports in [4] that a global MSWcomposition estimate can be represented
in the form of a pie chart, Fig. 1.
As shown in Fig. 1, MSW is pre-dominantly composed of organic
wastes. As mentioned earlier organic waste can be food scraps, yard
trimmings, and process residues; its composition will vary from region
to regionbased onthe income of the region, geography, etc. C. Ducharme
in [6] noted that organic component of MSW can be approximated by
the formula C
6
H
10
O
4
, an observation stated by Themelis et al. in [30]
on his study of New York City MSW. The formula can guide researchers
when considering the organic component of the MSW sample, and de-
termine its composition percentage.
1.2. Plasma
After solid, liquid and gas, plasma is considered to be the fourth state
of matter; plasma is essentially composed of electrons, ions and neutral
particles. However, plasma in its entirety is electrically neutral.
Plasma has a long history of utility in industry. It was rst employed
for metallurgical processes in the 19thcentury and later in the 20th cen-
tury. It was used for acetylene extraction from natural gases in the
chemical industry. The reason for using plasma was its ability to provide
high temperatures. The very same reason saw NASA develop this tech-
nology extensively for simulating the high temperatures that missiles
and space-crafts routinely face upon re-entry into earth's atmosphere
due to the rapid ionisation. The technologies that we currently use in
waste processing are derivatives of the technology initially developed
by NASA [10].
Table 1
MSW Generation by country [4].
Current available data Projections for 2025
Country Total urban population Total MSW generation
(tonnes/day)
Urban population Total MSW generation
(tonnes/day)
India 321,623,271 109,589 538,055,000 376,639
China 511,722,970 520,548 822,209,000 1,397,755
USA 241,972,393 624,700 305,091,000 701,709
Russia 107,386,402 100,027 96,061,000 120,076
United Kingdom 54,411,080 97,342 59,738,000 110,515
France 47,192,398 90,493 53,659,000 107,318
Germany 60,530,216 127,816 61,772,000 126,633
Brazil 144,507,175 149,096 206,850,000 330,960
Israel 5,179,120 10,959 8,077,000 16,962
South Korea 38,895,504 48,397 41,783,000 58,496
Japan 84,330,180 144,466 86,460,000 146,982
299 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
A. Gutsol in [7] states that plasma can be categorised into three
types, thermal plasma, cold plasma and warm (intermediate) plasma.
Thermal plasma attains high temperatures, although not as high as
hot plasma found in thermo-nuclear research and astrophysics, and
is in thermal equilibrium. Thermal equilibriuminfers that all the species
of the plasma, such as ions, atoms, electrons and neutral species, all re-
tainthe same temperature. A. Bogaerts et al. in[21] classiedthis type of
plasma as fusion plasma, a type of plasma that is commonly found in
stars with a temperature range of 4000 K to 20,000 K. The other two
types of plasma are classied as non-thermal equilibrium plasma.
Plasma is created through the application of energy sourced from
electric discharges of frequencies ranging from Direct Current (DC) to
the optical range which is in the order of 10
15
. The energy absorbed
by the electrons is spent in excitation of atoms and molecules, non-
elastic collisions for ionisation and for elastic collisions for direct gas
heating. This spent energy is subsequently dissipated into the environ-
ment. Plasmas considered by A. Gutsol have low ionisation degree
thereby the degree of energy dissipation depends on the translational
gas temperature T
0
. A plasma becomes thermal plasma if the energy
transfer from the electrons to gas heating occurs fast enough for T
0
to
equal the electron temperature T
e
thereby attaining thermal equilibri-
um. In order for the electrons to be capable of ionising the gas molecules
with ionisation energy in the order of 10 eV, it must attain an energy in
the level of 1 eVor T
e
of 10,000 K. A. Gutsol infers that plasma must have
a temperature of 10,000 K or above to be stated as thermal plasmas,
which is within the temperature range of plasmas found in stars as
stated by A. Bogaerts et al. in [21].
The third type of plasma, warm plasma has high translational
temperatures of around 2000 K, although it is signicantly lower than
thermal plasmas. This plasma dissipates energy into the environment
through non-equilibrium discharges. Microwave plasmas are one such
type of plasma with physical properties that allowfor a stable condition
to generate, under a range of external parameters.
The second type of plasma, or the cold plasma is another example of
non-equilibrium plasma, with low energy levels as the energy transfer
from electrons into gas heating is very slow. The energy level is low
enough for the molecules of the plasma to rapidly cool to the surround-
ing temperatures. Corona discharges, whether AC, DC or pulsed, are ca-
pable of producing this kind of plasma, at atmospheric pressure.
In Fig. 2 a segregation on the types of plasma is shown based on def-
initions provided byA. Bogaerts et al. in [21] and A. Gutsol in [7].
In this paper, we are going to discuss low temperature plasmas, es-
pecially thermal plasmas which have been used extensively in several
researches dealing with MSWprocessing, as they have high arc temper-
ature, high intensity and energy density and most importantly high
non-ionising radiation which is useful in destroying highly toxic com-
pounds and dehydrogenate organic chlorine in an eco-friendly manner
[10].
1.3. Plasma generators (torches)
The fundamental concept of plasma generation is, when huge
amounts of electrical energy are providedto a gas at certaintemperature
and pressure, it tends to excite and ionise it, generating electrons that
further collide with consequent atoms in-elastically thereby generating
more ions and electrons. This process continues in a self-sustaining
manner, provided a steady source of energy is continually applied.
High temperature is generated due to the signicant electrical resistivity
that generates across the system.
Thermal plasma can be generated by various methods of discharges
which A. Bogaerts et al. have elaborated upon in [21], however we shall
look into the two methods of thermal plasma discharges that are being
extensively used in concerned experiments, arc generated plasma using
Direct Current (DC) and Radio Frequency (RF) inductively coupled dis-
charges [16,21,22].
Arc generated plasma using Direct Current (DC) involves the use of
DC electric currents as high as 1 10
5
A, depending onthe specications
of the torch, across two electrodes which create a potential difference
across the input gas. The gas is forced to pass through the conned
space between the two electrodes which provides the energy required,
beginning the electrical breakdownthat leads to plasma generation. The
plasma leaves the torch through a circular opening in one of the elec-
trodes, usually the anode (non-transferred arc generators). The plasma
arc that comes out is unstable. Therefore, an external magnetic eld is
used to stabilise the arc. The stabilisation of the arc can also be done
by controlling the ow rate of the plasma gas.
Fig. 1. Pie-chart illustrating the global solid waste composition [4].
Plasma
Low temperature
Thermal/Equilibrium
Direct Current
discharge
Radio Frequency
discharge
Non-thermal/Non-
equilibrium
Corona discharge
(cold plasma)
Micro Wave
plasma (warm
plasma)
High temperature
Laser fusion
plasma / Hot
plasma
Fig. 2. Types of plasma.
300 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
However the designs of DC plasma arc generators differ greatly
depending on whether they are non-transferred [Fig. 3] or whether
they are transferred. In transferred arc generators, one of the electrodes,
usually the anode has a large separation with respect to the cathode. It is
usually a conducting material such as graphite, which also has refracto-
ry properties and does not require to be water cooled. It can have a hole
through it to allow the plasma gas to pass through or the gas could be
made to pass through the cathode externally, guided by a constrained
wall [Fig. 3]. Transferred arc reactors can utilise multiple rod electrodes
to generate a plasma arc. Non-transferred DC arc torches are used
popularly for their high temperature plasma arcs and better mixing of
the reactants (e.g. MSW) with plasma, although some designers and
researchers have opted for transferred plasma arcs due to economic rea-
sons as cheaper nitrogen gas can be used instead of argon as the work-
ing gas [11] [6,10,16,20,21].
There is one major drawback with DC thermal plasma arc generators
which A. Bogaerts et al. [21] have mentioned, a phenomenon called
sputtering where the discharged ions and atoms from the plasma gas
collide with cathode surface causing the release of secondary electrons
and some atoms from the cathode which later either deposits along
the circular anode surface or passes through the opening, along with
the arc and contaminates the reactants. Due to this phenomenon the
cathodes have a denite life span and require time-bound replacements
which increase maintenance cost and frequency of maintenance. In ad-
dition, more than 50% of electrical energy fed into thermal plasma is
wasted through cooling water which is necessary for stable arc opera-
tion. Otherwise, metallic electrodes are readily corroded or melted.
This is the major drawback that results in the energy efciency of ther-
mal plasma to be poor.
In the case of an RF inductively coupled discharges of thermal plas-
ma, which is being increasingly considered as their design prevents
any contact between the plasma gas and the electrodes, the energy nec-
essary to generate the plasma is provided by the RF induction coils and
allows the feed to be injected directly through the plasma region [9],
Non-transferred Arc plasma torch
Type: Direct Current Plasma torch.
Temperature: 10000K-14000K [non-transferred]
12000-20000K [transferred].
Electrode erosion: takes place, has a life span
Cathode
Anode
Plasma jet
Water
Jacket
Working
gas
Transferred Arc plasma torch
ranging from 1000-3000h in inert gas, lesser in
oxidative gas ranging from 200-500h.
Heat sinking: Required to cool the electrodes.
Stabilise the arc operation and prevent corrosion or
melting of electrodes.
Ignition of plasma: Easy.
Volume of plasma: Small.
Efficiency of power supply device: 50%
Influence of solid feeding on plasma stability: No.
Type: Radio Frequency plasma torch.
Temperature: 3000-8000K.
Electrode erosion: No erosion takes place.
Heat sinking: Cooling water flowing inside the coil
Ignition of plasma: Difficult
Volume of plasma: Medium
Efficiency of power supply device: 40-70%
Influence of solid feeding on plasma stability:
Yes.
Anode
Cathode
Plasma jet
Water
Jacket
Working
gas
Carrying
Gas
Fig. 3. Plasma generators (torches) characteristics and schematic diagrams [16,20].
301 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
Fig. 3. However there are certain limitations to this type of plasma torch
which are shown in Fig. 3.
2. Thermal plasma treatment of MSW
Thermal plasma treatment has certain unique advantages, based on
the plasma properties mentioned earlier, that have prompted re-
searchers to investigate extensively on MSW and other hazardous
wastes such as medical wastes, believing it to be the most feasible solu-
tion to the impending and escalating waste management crisis [16].
1. Thermal plasmas can be used to treat all kinds of waste streams, be it
solid such as regular MSWs, liquid such as urine or poisonous gases.
2. Due to the high temperature and high energy density generated by
thermal plasma, we can accommodate a large throughput with a
small scale reactor.
3. The high ux densities generated by the plasma at the reactor
boundaries lead to a rapid attainment of steady state conditions, ef-
fectively reducing the start-up and shutdown times.
4. The reactors do not require any oxidants to produce the heat source
since we are relying on plasma and not the combustion of conven-
tional fuels; therefore a small volume of gas is produced which
makes the entire process much more manageable and cost effective
as well as environmentally friendly as the emissions of CO
2
, which
is a greenhouse gas and a major concern related to global warming,
are much lower than accepted levels.
5. The steep thermal gradient that exists in these reactors allows for
quenching process which is benecial when trying to recover mono-
mers frompolymer wastes as describedby H. Huang, andL. Tang in[9].
Thermal plasma treatment exists effectively in two forms.
a. Plasma pyrolysis
b. Plasma gasication
Plasma pyrolysis is the decomposition of any given feed by gasica-
tion in an oxygen starved environment where as plasma gasication
involves the addition of limited amounts of oxygen and steam. In
both processes plasma is the sole source of heat. No combustion takes
place and the end result is the production of synthetic gas (syngas),
composed pre-dominantly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, although
certain percentage of carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid are present,
along with vitried slag which contains molten formof all the inorganic
components such as metal scrap present in the MSW feed along with
any residual toxic components in inert form. The output products
from conventional gasication units are similar to those from plasma
gasication/pyrolysis, however the syngas produced from plasma
gasication/pyrolysis is cleaner, devoid of huge quantities of soot,
char, tar and toxic gases such as oxides of sulphur or nitrogen or patho-
gens, from medical wastes. Conventional gasier and incinerators,
where MSW is combusted in excess of oxygen, due to low operating
temperatures of 400 to 800 C, cannot break down all the materials at
molecular level. It becomes essential to include several stages of scrub-
bers to clean the produced gas thereby increasing the processing cost.
Another drawback is that conventional gasiers cannot process hetero-
geneous wastes such as MSW and will require pre-sorting, further
adding to the processing cost [10,16,27].
There is a difference between plasma pyrolysis and gasication; the
gasication of MSW or any biomass using plasma yields two products,
syngas and vitried slag, Fig. 4, the quantity of which can be controlled
by us, an added advantage. The gasication of MSW in zero oxygen en-
vironment will provide us with low yield of gas and higher yield of
vitried slag. To increase the syngas yield we need to introduce the con-
trolled amounts of steamand oxygen. Either of the products has bene-
cial application, the slag produced can be processed to extract metals or
used in construction site where as the syngas produced has a signicant
caloric value and can be used for power generation [10,11,13,24] or for
extraction of pure hydrogen which is foreseen as the future alternative
to fossil fuels, prompting researchers such as Y. Byun et al. to perfect an
extraction technique which will complement plasma gasication units,
providing a system with MSW as input and pure hydrogen as output
[26].
Several researchers have conducted experiments on biomass gasi-
cation using thermal plasma to obtain data necessary to understand the
thermodynamic process taking place within a plasma furnace, to deter-
mine the composition of the syngas obtained and to test its caloric
value so as to understand the feasibility of the process as a waste to en-
ergy converter. G. Van Oost et al. [24] using crushed wood as a model
substance and a novel gaswater stabilized plasma torch developed
and patented by IPP-ASCR, Prague, were able to study the effects of var-
iable feed rate, plasma gas ow rate and the introduction of CO
2
on the
gasication process and were able to determine that evenat lowplasma
ow rates a proper mixing of the reactants and plasma is possible and
more intense mixing is possible at high feed rates. They were also able
to procure data onthe effects of the presence of oxygenand CO
2
onplas-
ma gasication. Similarly, A. Vaidyanathan et al. [25] have simulated
solid waste gasication using plasma to produce syngas using two
types of feeds: 1) carpet wastes containing polyester, polyethylene,
nylon bres, and styrene butadiene polymers, and 2) wastes procured
froma military base whichconsistedmostly of paper towels, aluminium
cans, bread, oor mating, tyres, PVC tubes plastic bags, and soft drink
bottles. The syngas percentage obtained towards the end of the experi-
ment, its composition andthe predictedthermal power value, for carpet
waste came to 23.533.5 kWwhereas for waste from military base was
Fig. 4. Block diagram showing the end products of plasma gasication/vitrication process in a waste to energy plant [25].
302 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
27.541 kW. A. Vaidyanathan et al. concluded, based on the results ob-
tained, that the experiment was not successful as efciency was not
optimised and the amount of gas obtained gave a heating value much
lower thanthe 90 kWpower suppliedto the torch. However it is expect-
ed that with certainmodications in the process such as longer process-
ing time and improved feed delivery system can provide better results.
The conclusion drawn by A. Vaidyanathan et al. has highlighted an
essential problem that exists with several researchers who have
attempted to simulate successful experiments related to plasma gasi-
cation, to replicate the data and to device new experiments based on
that data. While some researchers are successful at replication, they
nd several complications while contemplating and executing new ex-
periments. These complications can only be removed by trial and error
methods through repeated experimentation. The essential problem is
that plasma based experimentation is a time consuming and costly pro-
cess, as operating a plasma torch requires huge amounts of electricity.
This often limits the number of experiment capabilities a researcher
can conduct, due to budget constraints within which they all operate.
Plasma gasication is a thermo-chemical process and the plasma fur-
nace is the central part of the process withinwhichseveral chemical con-
versions take place that can be dened by the following formulas [27]:
C
(s)
+ H
2
O = CO + H
2
[heterogeneous water gas shift reaction
endothermic]
C
(s)
+ CO
2
= 2CO [Boudouard equilibriumendothermic]
C
(s)
+ 2H
2
= CH
4
[hydrogenation gasicationexothermic]
CH
4
+ H
2
O = CO + 3H
2
[methane decompositionendothermic]
CO + H
2
O = CO
2
+ H
2
[water gas shift reactionexothermic].
These chemical conversions are the basis of an equilibrium model
designed by A. Mountouris et al. [27] to aid the researcher in predicting
the performance of a plasma gasication process, called the GasifEq.
This model has been created using recent thermodynamic data taken
fromvarious sources suchas National Institute of StandardandTechnol-
ogy (NIST) and Design Institute for Physical Properties (DIPPR) consid-
ering all operational parameters such as moisture content, oxygen
amount, and gasication temperature and deduce its effects on the
composition of the syngas produced as well as providing the energy
and energy efciency analysis. The model GasifEq is a possible solution
to the problems that researchers such as A. Vaidyanathan et al. have
faced, by predicting the optimum operational conditions required and
the corresponding syngas composition, for operational parameters set
by the researchers thereby resulting in greater experimental success
and creating avenues for further research to improve efciency of the
processes as well as discovering more effective process techniques
and process variables.
2.1. Plasma gasication & industry
A major drawback of the use of thermal plasma torches based on
DC discharge is that they consume huge amounts of electricity. While
some researchers such as M. Punoch et al. [11] and S. K. Nema and
Ganeshprasad [10] have proposed the generation of electricity using
syngas produced from gasication of plastic waste and medical waste
respectively, heterogeneous wastes such as MSW are a greater chal-
lenge as they contain a mixture of various products ranging from
organic to inorganic, of varying proportions, hence the output syngas
composition would vary and thereby its caloric value, Fig. 5.
In order to make thermal plasma treatment of MSW an industrially
feasible process, we need to be able to simulate the process in the
form of an experiment. Y. Byun et al. [23] have developed a working
MSW plant capable of processing 10 ton of waste per day to observe
the feasibility of the process in real-time. The pilot plant consists of
ve important sections:
1) MSW storage unit and feeding system;
2) Integrated furnace tted with two thermal non-transferred torches
and an assistant LPG gas burner;
3) Steam generator;
4) Efuent gas treatment system which contains a bag lter, water
quencher and scrubber;
5) Secondary combustion chamber; and
6) Air pre-heater/gas cooler.
Aschematic diagramof the pilot plant is shown in Fig. 6. The waste is
stored in the storage unit which has an air curtain that prevents any
odour from escaping. The waste is then sorted using magnetic separa-
tors to remove metals, processed by crushers to reduce their size and
then continuously fed into the integrated furnace, pre-heated to about
873 K using LPG burners. The burners are also responsible for igniting
the waste. The entering feed is oxidised immediately by hot air which
is being fed into the reactor simultaneously. This reduces the electricity
consumption of the torches. The MSW undergoes gasication at a tem-
perature of 1673 K. The slag produced is tapped out from underneath
the furnace and water cooled to produce granules. The syngas produced
is then taken to the steam generators where the gas temperature is re-
duced from1673 Kto 453 Kand the resultant thermal transfer is used to
generate steam. The cooled syngas is then made to pass through the bag
lters where any residual y ash is removed. Here the gas is doped with
Ca(OH)
2
which reduces acidic gases present and increase the efciency
of y ash capture. The syngas is subsequently passed through a water
Fig. 5. Shows the effects of moisture and different components on the caloric value of
MSW, extract from [29].
MSW storage
unit
Magnetic
seperator &
Crusher
Hydraulic
feeder
Integrated
Furnace
Steam
generators
Bag filters
Water
quencher
Scrubber
Secondary
Combustion
chamber
Air pre-
heater/ gas
cooler
S
t
a
c
k
Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of the pilot plant for thermal plasma treatment of MSW [23].
303 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
quencher which rapidly cools the gas to 303 K with 40% NaOH solution
following which a scrubber (pH 9 maintained) removes any remaining
acidic gases that might be present. The syngas is nally burned in a
secondary combustion chamber, where the temperature is maintained
at 1173 K and the output gas (syngas) is passed through an air pre-
heater/gas cooler. The air pre-heater/gas cooler collects the air from
MSW storage unit and heated using the output gas (syngas) from the
secondary combustion chamber, to raise its temperature to 873 K (out-
put gas temperature reduces to 473 K). The output gas (syngas) is then
stored in a stack.
Y. Byun et al. have concluded that their setup has been successful
in producing syngas with little or no trace of any poisonous or
hazardous gases, as shown in Table 2, the power consumption is
1.14 MWh/MSW-ton [thermal plasma torch (0.817 MWh/MSW-ton) +
utilities (0.322 MWh/MSW-ton)] and the amount of LPG used to pre-
heat the furnace is 7.37 Nm
3
/MSW-ton, respectively. The authors
conclude that the recoverable electricity from the syngas produced is
only 0.79MWh/MSW-ton, assuming that the Integrated Gasication
Combined Cycle (IGCC) has an efciency of up to 35%. This is due to
the fact that there are excess of heat loss in several sections of the
IGCC such as the steam generator where it is estimated that 70% of
the input energy of the gas fromthe furnace was lost as the heat gener-
ated was not reused. Y. Byun et al. believe that by increasing the MSW
capacity and re-using the heat lost at the steam generator, the process
can be made more economically viable.
In order to make plasma gasication industrially effective many
companies have tried to combine traditional gasication with plasma
torches, such as Europlasma and Plasco, using DC plasma torches
to clean the gas produced from auto-gasiers before introducing them
to several scrubbers, then to a Gas engine optimised to use syngas as
fuel, to generate electricity; another company called InEnTec, proposed
the concept of Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) which combined the
concepts of plasma gasication and glass melting technologies. The
technology composed of three components, a downdraft pre-gasier,
a PEM process vessel and a thermal residence chamber. The MSW is
fed into the pre-gasier which is responsible for the gasication of
80% of the waste to syngas, while the remainder is processed in the
PEM vessel attached to the gasier. The PEM vessel uses a DC powered
plasma arc and an AC powered resistance heating system, to reduce the
load on the transferred arc. The inorganic materials are vitried in the
form of a slag and are collected. The design, although innovative, was
unable to reduce emissions as opposed to a classic grate combustion
plant [6].
C. Ducharme in [6] has done a comprehensive review of all the
present industrial scale plasma assistedwaste to energy (WTE) process-
es including one process developed by Alter Nrg using torches and
cupola designed by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), which
is an effective plasma gasication unit that can process MSW directly
without any pre-sorting or pre-gasication, and the syngas produced
is then used to generate electricity using customised turbines. This
setup is very similar to the experimental setup by Y. Byun et al., Fig. 6.
The cost analysis in this report indicates that the model proposed
by Alter Nrg/WPC is benecial for processing MSW, provided they
implement the Integrated Gasication Combined Cycle (IGCC) model
as shown in Fig. 7, as opposed to the processes proposed by the other
companies, Table. 3.
The cost toset upa traditional grate combustionWTE plant is around
$60/ton of MSW as opposed to $76.8/ton of MSW required to set up a
plasma gasication WTE plant. The values mentioned are shown in
Table. 3. The cost of setting up a classic grate combustion WTE plant is
compared to the cost of setting up a base plant, which is essentially a
cost assumption made by C. Ducharme in [6], on the capital required
to set up a plasma gasication WTE plant. The base plant cost estimates
are developed keeping the components of the grate combustion plant
constant; omitting the cost of components that is irrelevant, such as
stoker, furnace, boiler, turbine, condenser and stack and including the
costs of plasma gasicationvessel, plasma torches, andwater quenching
vessel and engine generators. The cost estimates reveal that the cost of
setting up a combustion grate plant is signicantly cheaper, also the cost
involved in maintenance and operation, or variable cost, is signicantly
higher for plasma gasication plants. Although Westinghouse Plasma
Corporation's IGCCmodel proves to be a cost effective model as opposed
to other alternate plasma gasication models, it is still producing sig-
nicantly less benet, $12.33 less than the classic grate combustion
plants [6].
2.2. Plasma gasication: future
Plasma gasication technology has proven to be an effective method
for waste disposal, being environmentally friendly while providing en-
ergy in the formof syngas or hydrogen which is later used in generating
electricity using specially designed generators or as fuel in hydrogen IC
engines [28] and fuel cells. Current technologies in the eld of thermal
plasma treatment are limited to the two types of plasma discharges,
RF discharge and DC discharge, which are either in the research stage
or in industry. While the industry focuses on DC plasma arc technology
currently, it is proving to be incapable of competing with traditional
grate combustion WTE plants in terms of cost, reducing its economic
feasibility. However other than Alter Nrg/WPC technology no other
company has been able to test an economically viable waste to energy
project; the factors that inuence the economic and nancial viability
of a project, as elaborated by L. Yang et al. in [29] are:
1. The composition of the waste, its caloric content;
2. The plant reactor size;
3. The competitive commercial tipping fees for the waste streams;
4. Ratio of organic to inorganic content;
5. Local equipment cost;
6. Local labour cost;
7. Local regulation/laws;
8. Sale price per unit of electricity generated; and
9. Design of the plant. Some designs produce enough electricity to meet
process requirements such as in [10].
The most important factor that affects the viability of a project is the
technology that is being implemented. While the technology currently
being pursued by the industry is environmentally viable and barely
meeting the operation cost, researchers are looking into alternate tech-
nology in line with thermal plasma technology that can address the cost
factor by increasing the process efciency andunits of power generated.
One such alternate technology is being experimented in Israel by Q.
Zhang et al. [31,32], called Plasma Gasication Melting (PGM) where
MSW gasication and plasma melting of the residues from the gasica-
tion are achieved in a single moving-bed counter current up-draft gas-
ier in a continuous one-step process. The process involves feeding of
air into the melting chamber of the reactor by the plasma torches
which are placed at the bottom of the reactor. The air enters at high
speed and high temperature in the form of plasma jet which effectively
melts the inorganic components of the waste and the air with its resid-
ual heat mixes withsteam, whichis injected through the side walls. This
Table 2
Composition of syngass output from the integrated furnace in [23].
CO
2
(%) 9.9 3.0
CO (%) 14.2 4.5
O
2
(%) 0.4 0.2
H
2
(%) 10.4 3
HCL (ppm) 0.5 0.4
THC (ppm) 23.2 5.2
SO
X
(ppm) Not detected
NO
X
(ppm) Not detected
N
2
(ppm) Not detected
PCDDs/DFs (NG-TEQ/Nm
3
) 1.04 0.75
304 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
technique effectively achieves several processes of drying, pyrolysis,
char gasication and melting of inorganic components, a schematic di-
agram illustrating the PGM process is shown in Fig. 8. The benets of
this process are the following:
1. High energy efciency;
2. 95% volume reduction of MSW inputted;
3. Syngas produced is rich in tar with a lower-heating-value of up to
10 MJ/Nm
3
; and
4. The application of high-temperature steamin the process affects the
watergas and watergas-shift reactions which causes the syngas
produced to have reduced the amounts of carbon monoxide as well
as increase in the yield and the lower-heating-value.
The concept of PGMreactor was rst developed by creating a model
using Aspen Plus. The results of which were compared with the results
obtained from the test reactor and tallied with the measured results to
nd that the process was feasible and by making appropriate adjust-
ments, concluded in [31], is a viable alternate to conventional plasma
technology for industrial scale implementation in the future.
There is another approach being taken by G. Galeno et al. in the form
of an Integrated Plasma Gasication Fuel Cell system (IPGFC) in [34].
Table 3
A comprehensive comparison of all processes industrially available currently, extract from [6].
Classic combustion Gasication Westinghouse Plasma
Corporation (WPC)
InEntec Europlasma Plasco
Availability 90% 90% 90% 90% 90%
Number of commercial plants 4 0 0 0
Pilot plant 1 1 0 2
Feedstock MSW MSW MSW + lime + met coke MSW MSW/industrial waste NA
Oxidant Air Enriched oxygen Enriched oxygen Enriched oxygen Air/CO
2
NA
Energy for plasma torches
(kWh per ton MSW)
115.2 34 133 NA
Composition of syngas with MSW
%CO 41% 31.50% 41.40% 41% NA
%CO
2
13.80% 8.33% 16.60% 4% NA
%N
2
NA 12.10% 5.60% 14% NA
%H
2
33.70% 16.20% 34.80% 33% NA
%CH
4
4.10% 1.00% 0.10% NA NA
%H
2
S 0.13% 0.02% NA NA NA
%HCL 0.13% 0.03% 0.00% NA NA
%H
2
O 6.30% 29.20% 1.50% 8% NA
Economics ($ per ton of MSW) WTE Base plant assumptions WPC InEntec Europlasma Plasco
Net power out (kWh) 500 533 617 450 500 533
Capital cost 60 76.8 81 76.8 86 96
Labour cost 10 10 10 10 10 10
Variable cost 28.80 43 32 43 53 43
Sale power 50 53.3 61.7 40 50 53.3
Sale slag/metals 2.25 2.47 2.47 2.47 2.47 2.47
Net benet ($) 19.05 8.68 6.72 16.98 30.98 30.15
Fig. 7. The Alter Nrg/WPC plasma gasication waste to energy plant: schematic diagram of proposed Integrated Gasication Combined Cycle (IGCC), extract from [6].
305 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
The basic concept of IPGFC is to combine a conventional plasma gasica-
tion reactor (PGR) along with an alternate power generation system,
which is signicantly more efcient than the conventional turbine sys-
tems that are being currently implemented in industrial projects. This
system involves the integration of the PGR with a high temperature
fuel cell, particularly the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The SOFC operates
on the concept that a fuel cell would have oxide ion conducting electro-
lyte which would permit the transference of oxide ions from the cath-
ode to the anode where it would react with the fuel. In this process
the fuel being syngas sourced from the PGR, and generate power,
Fig. 9. The cathode is fed with air, pre-heated using heat source from
the combustion chamber present in the Fuel Cell Unit. The combustion
chamber is responsible for the incineration of the gas that the fuel cell
ejects during its operation. Heat is transferred through the exhaust
gases to the Steam Turbine Unit. G. Galeno et al. state that the benet
of this system is that it efciently uses any excess heat, from the syngas
produced by the PGR in the Plasma Gasication Unit, to the exhaust gas
from the combustion chamber in the Fuel Cell Unit, by transferring it
onto water through heat exchangers, converting it to steam and using
it to operate a steam turbine hence generating more power. Also the
gas ejected from the cathode is at high temperature thereby when fed
to the plasma torches in the PGR, reduces power consumption and
increases the efciency of the process while retaining the same levels
of power production as that of an Integrated Gasication Combined
Cycle (plasma), the technology currently being implemented in indus-
try. The model developed by G. Galeno et al. in [34] using Aspen Plus
software has shown that this process has efciency of 33% as compared
to Integrated Gasication Combined Cycle (plasma) which has 30% ef-
ciency, the predicted power output is 87kW.
While some researchers are looking into reactor design and novel
methods of improving the thermal plasma treatment technology for
MSW, other researchers are considering improving the plasma genera-
tion technology or rather the method of plasma generation.
As mentioned earlier, the current technology related to plasma gen-
eration is limited to RF discharge and DC discharge. However there is
another method of discharge called microwave plasma discharge,
whichis being explored for the following benets whichwas elaborated
by Y. Ko et al. [33]:
1. Production of high ionisation levels and molecular dissociation with-
out heating the contained matter excessively;
2. Reactor designs are simpler and free from contaminations and less
subject to damage;
3. Little electronic interference is generated;
4. Absence of high voltages means there is reduced chances of shock
hazard;
5. Lower power consumption thereby more energy efcient; and
6. Ability to tolerate high concentrations of water which is particularly
benecial when treating MSW which has a signicant moisture
content.
These properties of microwave plasma discharge have prompted
several researchers to investigate their application inprocessing organic
waste (Table 4). C. J. Lupa et al. [35] tested the suitability of microwave
induced plasma in pyrolysis of waste wood samples that would simu-
late the organic component of MSW which is usually at a high percent-
age. Using a lab-based reactor, a welded steel box lined with a 15 mm
thick refractory lining with an internal pressure of 20 kPa, controlled
by using nitrogen, the reaction is conducted in zero oxygen environ-
ment for pyrolysis to take place. Samples used were 10 g in weight.
Using a Gasmet DX400 FTIR analyser the gas generated by the reactor
during the process was analysed and applying necessary correction fac-
tor the mass ratio was determined to be 66:20:13 and mean mass loss
determined was 7.96 g of the initial 10 g which is a 79.6% reduction
showing the feasibility of the concept of using microwave induced plas-
ma for treatment of biomass.
3. Conclusion
The global scenario of MSW generation is getting critical with in-
crease in urban population and concomitant reduction in vacant or fal-
low lands, has prompted several countries to incinerate their wastes in
lieu of land lling or use of both of these options. However both these
processes of waste disposal are harmful to the environment. Thermal
plasma gasication of MSW has been proven to be an environmentally
friendly method to process waste. The plasma gasication process in-
volves the dissociation of the waste at molecular level causing genera-
tion of a synthetic gas composed primarily of carbon monoxide and
hydrogenwhichcan later be used to generate electricity using steamcy-
cles or more modern and efcient Integrated Gasication Combined
Cycle.
There is also the possibility of extraction of hydrogen, whichas some
researchers believe, can be used as a replacement to fossil fuels in
the near future. However this method has a major disadvantage in the
form of cost of electricity consumption and setup costs.
Research into more novel approaches to thermal plasma treatment
is required as it is currently being done in terms of plasma gasication
melting reactor or the Integrated Plasma Gasication Fuel Cell design.
Development and optimisation of these new concepts are also expen-
sive and complicated processes due to the rarity of the components re-
quired, their procurement and operating cost for trials being very high,
simulation models are much required whichwould allowresearchers to
formulate newprocesses or designs and simulate reliable results which
can subsequently be scaled up for industrial trials. In order to achieve
this, a standard model is required in line with equilibriummodel called
GasifEq developed by A. Mountouris et al. in [27] or the EquiPlasmaJet
model developed by G. Galeno et al. in [34] which provides near accu-
rate results of the performance of plasma gasication reactors; G.
Galeno et al. were able to simulate the concept of Integrated Plasma
Gasication Fuel Cell using their model which proves the benets of
the existence of such models.
Fig. 8. Schematic diagram showing the PGM process model, extract from [32].
306 B. Ruj, S. Ghosh / Fuel Processing Technology 126 (2014) 298308
While researchers are looking into the modication of existing ther-
mal plasma technologies to improve efciency and cost effectiveness
some are looking into microwave induced plasma which promises to
be a revolutionary new approach to thermal plasma treatment of mu-
nicipal solid waste as it is less power consuming, more tolerant of mois-
ture which is in high levels in municipal solid waste exhibiting regional
composition variations.
Having established that plasma gasication technology is the most
effective way to process municipal solid waste as it has a mass reduction
capability of 90% without emitting any harmful gases we now need to
do it in a more energy efcient manner and microwave induced plasma
might bring us closer to the perfect waste-to-energy technology.
Acknowledgement
Authors are thankful to Director, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineer-
ing Research Institute, Durgapur, India for constant support and
encouragement.
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