Potential Challenges in Municipal Solid Waste Gasification

Almost every industry in the world is currently addressing environmental concerns by finding green business alternatives. Among this, gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) has emerged as a sustainable method of energy production. Although, an elaborate process and equipment for this has been successfully designed, certain difficulties remain to be seen by MSW gasifier plant manufacturers.

Need for pre-processing

The MSW tends to have high moisture content which is not desirable for the process of gasification. Also, the composition of MSW is heterogenous and some pre-processing needs to be done to separate the materials for smooth operation. A uniform feedstock is prepared first by sorting, shredding, drying of municipal solid waste. Skipping this step may result in release of toxic waste which defies the whole purpose of MSW gasification.  It also adds to the cost of gasification.

Harmful Bye-products

The bye-products from the process of MSW gasification includes excessive amount of ash which deposits on the furnaces and reactors. The flue gases released from the process are rich in chloride compounds which are corrosive to the equipment surface. This calls for high maintenance of the equipment for gasification. Alternatively, the manufacturers must utilize material that can withstand such damage for prolonged time.

Emission

The emission from the process of MSW gasification is relatively lower as compared to incineration. However, some amounts of hydrocarbons, tar, carbon monoxide may still be released into the environment. The process needs to be adjusted to reduce this emission. So, the manufacturers must design the plant appropriately to deal with the emission. Also, some parameters need to be strictly followed as instructed by the manufacturer to avoid this issue.

Conclusion

The manufacturers of MSW gasification plants have been successful in developing a sophisticated process to convert waste into energy. The current difficulties may be solved with further refining of the existing methods.