Energy Generation from Municipal Solid Waste by Innovative Technologies - Plasma Gasification

The growing population all around the world has increased the quantum of solid waste the disposal of which has become a complex task to the municipal authorities. In search of a suitable remedy to this problem we have arrived at a number of varieties of waste management methods and strategies for dealing with municipal solid waste. These technologies help to generate energy in the form of heat, electricity and fuel and also remarkably reduce the diversion of biomass waste from landfill. The process of plasma gasification is one among those successful proven technologies of producing energy from waste. Gasification is a process in which a solid material containing carbon, such as coal or biomass, is converted into a gas called syngas which contains hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The focus of the paper is to analyze the process of plasma gasification and also to propose a critical assessment of MSW. It also aims to compare the performance of the process to that of the conventional energy recovery methods. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.