Waste Management announces plans for the first plasma gasification facility in the U.S., utilizing high-heat plasma technology to turn waste into fuel and energy.

In another move positioning it as a U.S. industry leader in converting landfill waste into energy, Waste Management is breaking ground on a “plasma gasification” facility. Located in Oregon, this renewable energy technology will utilize high temperatures in enclosed gas chambers to turn municipal trash into usable fuel and energy. This endeavor comes two years after Waste Management became the first in its industry to partner with landfill owners to develop landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) projects.

“This project strengthens our focus on renewable energy and new technologies that use waste as a resources,” says Dean Kattler, area vice president for Waste Management Pacific Northwest.

“Our goal is to extract as much value as possible from waste and this project will help us recover valuable resources to generate clean fuels, renewable energy and other beneficial products.”

TWO-PHASE PLASMA GASIFICATION EXPLAINED

Phase 1: A gasification chamber heats landfill waste at 1,500 degree Fahrenheit.

Phase 2: A second gasification chamber superheats the waste at 10,000 to 20,000 degree Fahrenheit. It is this phase that utilizes the electricity-conducting gas, plasma, which rearranges the molecular structure of waste.

It is the molecularly-rearranged waste produced in Phase 2 — “syngas” – that can be converted into ethanol, diesel, hydrogen and methanol. Or it can be used in place of natural gas to generate heat or electricity.

PLASMA GASIFICATION AROUND THE WORLD

Waste Management is not the only company investing in the application of plasma gasification to convert waste into fuel.

Just last month, British Airways announced its plans to use waste-based jet fuel as a means of generating 10 percent of its fuel from renewable resources by 2014. To that end, Solena Group is building a plant for British Airways that utilizes plasma gasification technology to turn garbage into jet fuel.

In fact, according to Columbia University, plasma gasification facilities exist all over the world, including Taiwan, Japan, Canada, and England. That said, with plans to break ground in early summer the Waste Management facility does appear to be the first in the U.S., though others are reportedly planned for Florida, Georgia and California.

Meredith Simonds Landfills, Recycling British Airways, Columbia University, landfill waste, municipal trash, plasma gasification, Renewable Energy, Solena Group, Waste Management