Syngas production from municipal solid waste plasma gasification: A simulation and optimization study

Abstract

As a greener alternative to traditional combustion systems, thermal plasma gasification has gained a lot of attention in industries including manufacturing and waste management. The primary objective of this research is to enhance the efficiency of the process and boost the quantity and quality of syngas fuel produced through the plasma gasification of MSW. The goal is to find a long-term solution for recycling municipal solid waste into a carbon-free fuel source. Modeling and simulation analysis using Aspen software was used for the prediction of syngas yields from MSW thermal plasma gasification. Eight responses, including syngas fuel output gases and process performance measures including cold gas efficiency (CGE) and carbon conversion (CC), were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Three input variables such as air equivalence ratio (ER), steam to fuel ratio (SFR) and oxygen content in the air (O2 %) were examined. Correlations between the primary responses from MSW plasma gasification and the three input variables were developed and shown to be highly accurate. The optimization results for the MSW plasma gasification showed that ER = 0.04, SFR = 0.28, and O2 = 84.31% are the best operating conditions to maximize the hydrogen = 50.66%, carbon monoxide = 44.67, CGE = 57.64% and CC = 86.52%.