RENEWABLE ENERGY & GREEN TECHNOLOGY

[Dragonwing]

I find this process fascinating


It's been in use for years.


Alter NRG’s wholly owned subsidiary, Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), is a gasification company based in Madison, Pennsylvania that licenses and sells plasma gasification technology and products worldwide.

It's plasma technology was developed over a period greater than 30 years and with an estimated $100 million in Westinghouse R&D funding. The WPC technology was initially developed in collaboration with NASA for use in the Apollo space program to simulate space vehicle re-entry conditions of over 5,500°C (10,000°F).

Since the 1980s, the WPC technology has proven itself in various applications over several years in industrial facilities owned or operated by companies such as Alcan, General Motors and Hitachi Metals.

1989 - General Motors Defiance, - Ohio, USA - Metallurgical
1992 - ALCAN Jonquire, - Quebec Canada - Metallurgical
1995 - Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries - Kinuura, Japan - Ash Vitrification
1999 - Hitachi Metals, Ltd. - Yoshii, Japan - Waste Treatment & Energy Processing Demo Facility
2002 - Hitachi Metals, Ltd. - Mihama Mikata, Japan - Waste Processing & Energy Production
2002 - Hitachi Metals, Ltd. - Utashinai, Japan - Waste Processing & Energy Production
2009 -*Currently being commissioned - SMS Infrascturce Ltd. - Pune, India - World's Largest Commercial Gasification of Hazardous Waste


Hitachi Metals Environmental Systems Company (Yoshii, Japan)

Plasma Arc Gasification/melting of MSW (commercial/commercial scale demonstration)

After demonstration of the gasification technology for MSW at the pilot plant in Yoshii, Japan during 1999-2000, the Japanese government certified the technology for construction of a commercial size plant. The plant was completed in July 2002. This new plant uses primarily automobile shredder residue (ASR) as fuel with approximately 165 ton d-1 capacity but has been designed to run with a 50% mixture of MSW. It can also process approximately 300 ton d-1 of 100% MSW.

After commissioning, the plant was released to the customer for commercial operation in April 2003. In December 2002, the twin cities of Mihama and Mikata, Japan commissioned a MSW and sewage sludge treatment plant. Hitachi Metals Ltd. designed and installed this plant. It processes 24 ton d-1 of MSW and 4 ton d-1 of sewage sludge.
The RW Beck report for Honolulu (RWBeck 2003) indicates Hitachi and Westinghouse Plasma were co-developers of a MSW conversion plant in Yoshii, Japan. This ran at a scale of 166 ton d-1 so it can be considered commercial scale demonstration.

http://biomass.ucdavis.edu/materials/reports%20and%20publications/2003/2003_Solid_Waste_Conversion.pdf

http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-converter4.htm

http://www.alternrg.com/