Download PDF : Brian-Thompson-WESTINGHOUSE-PLASMA
Renewable Energy
Solena – BA One Destination – British Airways
http://www.onedestination.co.uk/environment/climate-change/biofuels/solena/
Solena
In 2009 British Airways formed a partnership with Solena, a renewable energy technology company based in the US. Together we are developing a project to create sustainable biojet fuel by processing municipal waste using plasma gasification technology. We aim to build a commercial scale biojet fuel plant in the South East of England; the first of its kind in Europe. It will convert up to 500,000 tonnes of waste into 16m gallons of aviation biofuel each year, meeting all of British Airways’ fuel needs at London City Airport. The fuel itself will be cleaner burning than kerosene providing air quality benefits as the fuel produces much lower levels of particulate matter
By using biomass waste to produce the biojet fuel, the project will help to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfills. In addition, its zero waste philosophy means that all materials from the plant are recycled – producing renewable naphtha that can be used to make renewable plastics or blended into other fuels, and it also produces a solid aggregate-type material. The plant will also produce more than 20MW net of green renewable power that can be fed into the grid and any excess steam can be used for local heating applications.
The BA and Solena partnership project represents a significant inward investment of new green technology into the UK. Helping to divert waste from landfill sites, providing energy to the local area and producing greener aviation fuel, the project will help to reinforce the UK’s position as an innovator in technological advancement whilst providing leadership in the area of sustainable green energy and biojet fuel solutions.
Sweden imports waste from European neighbors to fuel waste-to-energy program
http://www.pri.org/stories/science/environment/swedes-import-trash-to-power-the-nation-10428.html
Sweden’s waste incineration plants generate 20 percent of Sweden’s district heating. (Photo by Vattenfall via Flickr CC.)
Sweden’s successful waste-to-energy program converts household waste into energy for heating and electricity. But they’ve run into an unusual problem: they simply aren’t generating enough trash to power the incinerators, so they’ve begun importing waste from European neighbors.
When it comes to recycling, Sweden is incredibly successful. Just four percent of household waste in Sweden goes into landfills. The rest winds up either recycled or used as fuel in waste-to-energy power plants.
Burning the garbage in the incinerators generates 20 percent of Sweden’s district heating, a system of distributing heat by pumping heated water into pipes through residential and commercial buildings. It also provides electricity for a quarter of a million homes.
According to Swedish Waste Management, Sweden recovers the most energy from each ton of waste in the waste to energy plants, and energy recovery from waste incineration has increased dramatically just over the last few years.
The problem is, Sweden’s waste recycling program is too successful.
Catarina Ostlund, Senior Advisor for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said the country is producing much less burnable waste than it needs.
“We have more capacity than the production of waste in Sweden and that is usable for incineration,” Ostlund said.
However, they’ve recently found a solution.
Sweden has recently begun to import about eight hundred thousand tons of trash from the rest of Europe per year to use in its power plants. The majority of the imported waste comes from neighboring Norway because it’s more expensive to burn the trash there and cheaper for the Norwegians to simply export their waste to Sweden.
In the arrangement, Norway pays Sweden to take the waste off their hands and Sweden also gets electricity and heat. But dioxins in the ashes of the waste byproduct are a serious environmental pollutant. Ostlund explained that there are also heavy metals captured within the ash that need to be landfilled. Those ashes are then exported to Norway.
This arrangement works particularly well for Sweden, since in Sweden the energy from the waste is needed for heat. According to Ostlund, when both heat and electricity are used, there’s much higher efficiency for power plants.
“So that’s why we have the world’s best incineration plants concerning energy efficiency. But I would say maybe in the future, this waste will be valued even more so maybe you could sell your waste because there will be a shortage of resources within the world,” Ostlund said.
Ostlund said Sweden hopes that in the future Europe will build its own plants so it can manage to take care of its own waste.
“I hope that we instead will get the waste from Italy or from Romania or Bulgaria or the Baltic countries because they landfill a lot in these countries. They don’t have any incineration plants or recycling plants, so they need to find a solution for their waste,” Ostlund said.
In fact, landfilling remains the principal way of disposal in those countries, but new waste-to-energy initiatives have been introduced in Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and Lithuania.
It is also important, Ostlund notes, for Sweden to find ways to reduce its own waste in the future.
“This is not a long-term solution really, because we need to be better to reuse and recycle, but in the short perspective I think it’s quite a good solution,” Ostlund concluded.
150,000 TPA Plasma Arc Gasification Waste to Energy Plant for Ottawa
18 December 2012
Ottawa, Ontario based Plasco Energy has signed an agreement with the City of Ottawa to build a 150,000 tonnes per year plasma arc gasification waste to energy facility.
The company said that under the contract with Ottawa, the City will supply 109,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste and has a right of first refusal to supply the balance of plant capacity.
The site for the facility has been leased to Plasco for nominal cost by the City, which will pay a tipping fee for each tonne processed of $83.25 per tonne, escalating annually at the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index.
The first 20 years of the contract are fixed and the City has options for a further four five year extensions.
The company added that the City of Ottawa has made no other financial contribution and has no other risk or obligation.
The City estimates that the deal will extend the life of Ottawa’s existing landfill by at least 28 years saving the City approximately $250 million in future landfill capital costs.
Construction is expected to commence in the second half of 2013 with commercial operation planned for the first half of 2015.
Plasma arc technology
The company said that the new facility will be built to the Plasco Conversion System (PCS) design and will incorporate three proprietary Integrated Converting and Refining System (ICARS) modules.
According to Plasco the PCS breaks down garbage using its patented ICARS system, which gasifies the waste and refines the resulting gas using plasma technology.
The synthetic gas created from the waste fuels General Electric Jenbacher internal combustion engines, together with a steam turbine driven by heat recovered from the process and engines, which the company said will produce approximately 15MW of net electricity that will be sold to the grid.
Further to this any residual solids are refined using Plasma to produce slag which meets requirements for a range of applications, including construction aggregates and abrasives.
Moisture in the waste is recovered, cleaned and made available for reuse in the community.
Effective throughput of the facility will be 130,000 tonnes per year.
The company claimed that there are no emissions to atmosphere in the conversion process, with any unused gas sent to a flare. Exhaust from the engines and flare have emission levels significantly below the most stringent standards in the world.
The ICARS modules will be manufactured in Ontario and, according to Plasco, site construction and assembly of the PCS will create about 200 construction jobs.
Once complete the facility will permanently employ 42 operations technicians.
Plasco added that construction and operation of the Facility will be subject to receipt of and compliance with the terms of Environmental Compliance Certificates to be issued by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
Read More
Pollution Control System for Canadian Plasma Gasification Firm
Plasco Energy has selected Ontario based air pollution control systems company, Macrotek to design and engineer a commercial gas cleanup system.
Plasma Gasification of Waste Meets Desalination Onboard Ship
Vision Plasma Systems is in discussions to retrofit retired ocean vessels to function as floating waste remediation sites and water desalination plants powered by waste gasification.
Massachusetts considering gasification and pyrolysis projects
http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/priorities/dswmpu01.htm
December 18, 2012
By Jeremy Carroll
Massachusetts is considering altering its MSW incinerator moratorium to encourage the development of alternative technologies, including gasification and pyrolysis.
The Department of Environmental Protection is seeking public comment on the plan. The plan would allow for 350,000 tons of waste per year to be disposed of using gasification or pyrolysis, if the master plan’s disposal reduction goals are met.
The plan outlines an effort to divert 450,000 tons of food waste and organic materials by 2020 and build 50 megawatts of renewable energy from anaerobic digestion of that diverted waste. Starting in 2014, the plan would phase in a ban on food wastes from food processors and large institutions such as colleges, hotels and grocery stores.
“The Commonwealth’s target is to reduce waste disposal by 2 million tons per year by 2020, so we must use all of the tools available to us in order to reach our goal,” said Rick Sullivan, environmental affairs secretary, in a statement. “With increased recycling, composting, waste reduction and re-use, as well as utilizing cleaner new technologies, we can improve the quality of life for all residents.”
Proposed alternative technologies projects would have to meet stringent recycling, emissions and energy efficiency standards, and new facilities would be subject to the same site assignment rules as other solid waste facilities.
“This slight modification to the moratorium makes sense, because it gives our cities and towns the opportunity to take advantage of promising new technologies, while at the same time protecting our environment and complementing, rather than replacing, recycling,” said Sen. Marc R. Pacheco, Senate chair of the joint committee on environment, natural resources and agriculture, in a statement.
Plasma Gasification Advances
Edward Yau and his proposed caveman mass -burn 850 degrees C incinerator technology that produces 1/3 of what is thermally converted per day into toxic bottom and fly ash that needs landfilling – ad infinitum – hence the need to build offshore islands as ash lagoon tips
The sensible Option – Plasma Gasification at 6,000 degrees C that has no ash residues, just plasmarok volcanic glass that can be used or mandated as road aggregate, with minimal emissions (steam) versus massive incineration pollutants and dioxins and ash residues
Plasma plants are modular and can be sited nearer to the waste sources or additional (150,000 TPA) modules added to a main site
Landfills can be reverse mined back to their original state using gasification technology and is underway now
http://www.advancedplasmapower.com/belgium-landfill-mining-project.aspx
Cathay Pacific could soon be re-fuelling with bio jet fuel produced from a Solena Fuels gasification system – British Airways plant is under construction now as are agreements with SAS and Alitalia and other major airlines such as Lufthansa and US based airlines
http://www.solenafuels.com/sites/default/files/Press%20Release%20Solena%20Germany%20Sep%202012.pdf
http://news.newclear.server279.com/?p=4328
http://www.solenafuels.com/sites/default/files/Hi%20Life%20Green%20Page%20-%20August%202012.pdf
“American Airlines and United Continental Holdings led the development of the agreement with Solena and were joined by five additional ATA member airlines – Alaska Airlines, FedEx,
JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and US Airways – and ATA associate member Air Canada in signing the letters of intent, as well as Frontier Airlines and Lufthansa German Airlines.
ATA is a cofounding and co-leading member of CAAFI, which is dedicated to the development and deployment of commercially viable, environmentally friendly
alternative aviation fuels.”
Bio marine fuel can be produced from a gasification system and one is being built now (Solena/Maersk) in New Jersey
http://news.newclear.server279.com/?p=5579
Download PDF : PlasmaGasifAdvance
U.S. Waste to Biofuel Gasification Company Seeks Chinese Investment
12 December 2012
Sierra Energy’s commercial waste gasification to biofuels facility was one of the proposed projects as the U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke kicked off his investment forum in Beijing.
The forum saw the U.S. Embassy working with several U.S. Chamber of Commerce Organisations, International Trade Programs, and other partners to bring Chinese dollars to projects in the U.S.
As part of the meetings, each U.S. state brought several investment ready projects to pitch, with Davies, California based Sierra Energy’s project to commercialise its FastOx waste gasification technology being among those projects proposed.
The company said that the project, partly funded by a $5 million investment from the California Energy Commission and strongly supported by the City of West Sacramento, would convert locally generated, non-recyclable waste into clean renewable fuels.
According to Sierra Energy a potential investment would expedite its project, allowing the installation of a compact, modular waste conversion system that would generate one barrel of renewable diesel for every ton (907 kg) of material processed.
“There’s a definite synergy between our technology and the CO2 and waste reduction efforts of both China and California,” commented Mike Hart, CEO of Sierra Energy.
“The commercialization of our conversion technology will prove the economic viability, environmental sustainability, and create a path for the global implementation of waste conversion,” he added.
According to Sierra Energy a similar conference in May 2012 resulted in over $900 million in investment deals concluded or under discussion.
The company added that California is by far the number one destination for Chinese investment based on number of deals. From 2000-2011, California attracted 156 deals and $1.3 billion of Chinese investment. The deals are almost four times more than the number-two state Texas.
For this latest forum California’s project list was developed by the Governor’s Office of Business Development (GO-Biz) International Deputy Director Paul Oliva and was presented by Dell Christensen from the Bay Area Council.
150,000 TPA Plasma Arc Gasification Waste to Energy Plant for Ottawa
18 December 2012
Ottawa, Ontario based Plasco Energy has signed an agreement with the City of Ottawa to build a 150,000 tonnes per year plasma arc gasification waste to energy facility.
The company said that under the contract with Ottawa, the City will supply 109,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste and has a right of first refusal to supply the balance of plant capacity.
The site for the facility has been leased to Plasco for nominal cost by the City, which will pay a tipping fee for each tonne processed of $83.25 per tonne, escalating annually at the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index.
The first 20 years of the contract are fixed and the City has options for a further four five year extensions.
The company added that the City of Ottawa has made no other financial contribution and has no other risk or obligation.
The City estimates that the deal will extend the life of Ottawa’s existing landfill by at least 28 years saving the City approximately $250 million in future landfill capital costs.
Construction is expected to commence in the second half of 2013 with commercial operation planned for the first half of 2015.
Plasma arc technology
The company said that the new facility will be built to the Plasco Conversion System (PCS) design and will incorporate three proprietary Integrated Converting and Refining System (ICARS) modules.
According to Plasco the PCS breaks down garbage using its patented ICARS system, which gasifies the waste and refines the resulting gas using plasma technology.
The synthetic gas created from the waste fuels General Electric Jenbacher internal combustion engines, together with a steam turbine driven by heat recovered from the process and engines, which the company said will produce approximately 15MW of net electricity that will be sold to the grid.
Further to this any residual solids are refined using Plasma to produce slag which meets requirements for a range of applications, including construction aggregates and abrasives.
Moisture in the waste is recovered, cleaned and made available for reuse in the community.
Effective throughput of the facility will be 130,000 tonnes per year.
The company claimed that there are no emissions to atmosphere in the conversion process, with any unused gas sent to a flare. Exhaust from the engines and flare have emission levels significantly below the most stringent standards in the world.
The ICARS modules will be manufactured in Ontario and, according to Plasco, site construction and assembly of the PCS will create about 200 construction jobs.
Once complete the facility will permanently employ 42 operations technicians.
Plasco added that construction and operation of the Facility will be subject to receipt of and compliance with the terms of Environmental Compliance Certificates to be issued by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
Read More
Pollution Control System for Canadian Plasma Gasification Firm
Plasco Energy has selected Ontario based air pollution control systems company, Macrotek to design and engineer a commercial gas cleanup system.