Future district heating plant integrated with municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification for hydrogen production

Characterizing municipal solid waste (MSW) is a critical step in planning, designing, operating, or upgrading solid waste management systems. For a theoretical investigation of hydrogen production by gasification and water-gas shift reaction, we characterized Norwegian MSW and used the data. Three different gasification setups, named as 'A-1', 'A&S-2', and 'S-3' were modeled using Aspen plus simulation software for direct and indirect gasification processes according to the different gasification agents. The MSW characterization result showed a reasonable agreement with existing studies in different countries. The maximum hydrogen yield achieved in setup 'S-3' was around 94% of the maximum theoretical hydrogen yield from the specified MSW. At a steam to syngas ratio of 0.5, 199.6 g of hydrogen could be produced per one kg of MSW, with 4 L of water at 100 degrees C for district heating. The study indicates integrating an indirect gasifier in preexisting MSW-fired plants can play a significant role in recovering energy from MSW in the form of energy carrier hydrogen. However, if it is necessary to construct a new waste incinerator, the study results indicate building a direct gasification system. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.