Abstract The purpose of this term paper is to explain how plasma gasification processes operations occur at solid waste landfills. Plasma gasification is a process which converts...

Abstract
This term paper aims to explain how plasma gasification processes operations occur at solid waste landfills. To achieve this, we have used the company InEnTec as a model to explain how effective the process of plasma gasification has become in today’s market place.
Plasma gasification is defined as a process wherein organic, inorganic and/or radioactive matter is converted into synthetic gas (syngas) and/or solid residue using plasma technologies. A plasma is nothing but an ionized gas which in this case is produced by an electiricity powered plasma torch which therefore acts as a catalyst for production of syngas and solid waste from organic matter. So far its commercial used has been limited to waste treatment but it has nevertheless been successfully tested for coal, oil sands, oil shale and biomass gasification.
Plasma gasification technology has been developed by Integrated Environmental Technologies (InEnTec) for transformation of wastes into fuels and other residual products. It has developed a trademark system known as the Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM). This system has been designed for converting industrial, chemical and household wastes into fuels (syngas is a fuel) and other residual products which are in turn used for construction purposes. The electrically conducting gas - plasma is used as a heating medium to treat wastes in the PEM. It is a highly effective system for treatment of a wide variety of waste streams which includes but may not be limited to industrial, medical, municipal and radioactive wastes.
A collaborative effort between researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led to the formation of InEnTec in 1995. In 2009, along with Houston-based Waste Management Inc., the company created a joint venture for building and managing plasma-gasification facilities employing PEM systmes (Category by Category, 2010, September).
Introduction
The plasma gasification system consists of a reactor vessel in which a plasma generated by an electric arc at a temperature of 20,000 C° is present. The waste (or fuel) is fed into this plasma. The process is schematically shown below:
Waste Plasma (heats waste to >2000 °C) Waste dissociates into H2, CO, CH4
These simple gas molecules are then allowed to flow from the reactor to gas cooling and cleaning equipment continuously. Inorganic materials and ash present in the fuel or waste are melted down to a complex liquid silicate that flows to the bottom of the reaction vessel.
An energy crises exists today and the two most significant factors for this are the unstable market of fossil fuel price around the world and unfavorable environmental conditions for burning of these fuels. This has been revealed in the study by Pourali (n.d.), titled Application of Plasma Gasification Technology in Waste to Energy Challenges and Opportunities. Due to political instabilities in oil producing nations, high fluctuations in crude prices and high exploration costs, there is an urgent need of finding alternate energy sources. Also, burning fossil fuels leads to emissions of greenhouse gases like Carbon Dioxide which is one of the primary reasons behind global warming and subsequent climate change and the subsequent weather catastrophes which have occured in recent times. Scientists might have some disagreements over the last statements but still they all acknowledge the need for finding environment friendly and sustainable energy sources.
Plasma Gasification Studies
Municipal solid waste (MSW), that is the waste coming from city/town households and collected by the town municipalities, is considered by Pourali (n. d.) to be a renewable energy source, and among the available technologies for harnessing this energy, plasma gasification is the most efficient. MSW has been officially declared by the US government to be a renewable energy source, and power generated from MSW qualifies for incentives available for green power. Using plasma gasification for converting municipal waste to energy in the...