Hydrogen production with an auto-thermal MSW steam gasification and direct melting system: A process modeling

Municipal solid waste steam gasification and direct melting system is proposed in this study for H-2 production and ash melting simultaneously. Part of the H-2 generated in gasification is extracted for combustion with pure oxygen in the melting zone to provide the energy necessary for auto-thermal operation. A simulation model is developed with Aspen Plus to investigate the performance and optimum conditions of the system. For the feedstock with a lower heating value of 18.91 MJ/kg used in this study, 39.8% of the generated H-2 needs to be extracted to maintain the heat balance of the system at the gasification temperature of 900 degrees C, melting temperature of 1400 degrees C, and S/M of 1. The net H-2 yield is similar to 77.3 kg/t-MSW with a net cold gas efficiency of 49.1% under the same operating condition. An optimum operation condition for T (850-1000 degrees C) and S/M (0.6-1.0) is determined considering the balance between H-2 production ability and the auto-thermal energy balance. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study proposes a municipal solid waste steam gasification and direct melting system for simultaneous H-2 production and ash melting. By extracting part of the H-2 generated in gasification, the system achieves auto-thermal operation. A simulation model is developed to investigate the system's performance and optimum conditions.