Plasma Gasification of Two Waste Streams: Municipal Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste from the Oil and Gas Industry

Abstract

This study assesses the practicality of plasma co-gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) and hazardous carbonaceous waste of the oil and gas industry. Various studies have shown that plasma gasification could be regarded as an efficient energy recovery method for both MSW and carbonaceous waste. As the economy of the Gulf states is driven by oil and gas industry, Petroleum Hazardous Waste (PHW) produced in the area has a huge environmental footprint aside from the MSW, and thus the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is taken here as a case study. A plasma gasification simulation model is developed within the environment of Aspen Plus comprising the gasifier and the entire power plant of an integrated plasma gasification combined cycle (IPGCC). Given the feedstock distribution and characteristics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, various parametric studies subjected to different co-gasification of MSW and PHC fractions are considered under different plasma gases, being air, oxygen, and steam. The results revealed that 81 MW of electric power could be generated at an efficiency of 33.63% by processing 1,338 tons per day of mixed waste consisting of 90% MSW and 10% PHW. The results showed efficiency higher than the common incineration waste to energy technologies with the additional flexibility to accommodate various types of waste. Moreover, the IPGCC plant efficiency is significantly increased by co-gasifying PHW with MSW.