Technical assessment of the CLEERGAS moving grate-based process for energy generation from municipal solid waste

Abstract

A technical analysis has been completed for a commercial-scale two-stage gasification-combustion system. The CLEERGAS (Covanta Low Emissions Energy Recovery GASification) process consists of partial combustion and gasification of as-received municipal solid waste (MSW) on a moving grate producing syngas followed by full combustion of the generated syngas in an adjoining chamber and boiler. This process has been in operation since 2009 on a modified 330-tonne day⁻¹ waste-to-energy (WTE) line in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Material balances determined that the syngas composition is 12.8% H₂ and 11.4% CO, the heating value of the gas in the gasifier section is 4098 kJ Nm⁻³, and an aggregate molecular formula for the waste is C₆H_14.5O₅. The analysis of gas measurements sampled from the Tulsa unit showed that the gasification-combustion mode fully processed the MSW at an excess air input of only 20% as compared to the 80–100% typically found in conventional WTE moving grate plants. Other important attributes of the CLEERGAS gasification-combustion process are that it has operated on a commercial scale for a period of over two years with 93% availability and utilizes a moving grate technology that is currently used in hundreds of WTE plants around the world.

Keywords

Gasification large-scale municipal solid waste syngas moving grate

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