Another article in Wired Magazine this month (20.02). This one about a different way to handle all that trash. This one turns it into a plasma and generates syngas. Waste Management has a new test unit operating at their big land fill in Washington State. The unit was built by S4 Energy Solutions to try to do something about the waste disposal problem.
The system is a 3 stage unit. Garbage is dumped into a hopper which runs it into a tank where it is mixed with water and oxygen at 1500 degrees F (816 degrees C). This converts about 80% of it to gases that are piped out and recovered. The rest is dropped into a chamber where it is hit with an 18,000 deg F (10,000 deg C) arc which converts it to its atomic elements. The atoms form gases which are again captured. The small amount that remains then falls into a melter at the bottom. This is trapped in a glass that holds any hazardous materials when it cools. The glass can then be crushed for road fill and such like or have metals removed for recycling.
The gases created, mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide, are captured and can be used as an energy source, either for outside use or to operate the system.
If they get it working right they can start using the system all over the country and get rid of the need for more and more land fills, which of course are a big problem in themselves.
Sounds good to me. I just hope it works out the way they think it will.
Bill Gill