Environment and the Plasma Gasification of Garbage

I wanted to bring to your attention a very interesting article that I read on the New York Times. The link is: Garbage Plasma Gasification.

It was a while ago when I read it, but didn’t have time to write about it! So here it is:

The first thing I saw was the word “Garbage”… I didn’t really give much attention to it because even though it is something really important, and that people should be aware of, I already know what most articles usually say about it. Things like: “Oh, the toxins from incinerating the garbage are bad”, “We have to start disposing of medical/toxic garbage in safe places”, “Soon there will be a shortage of places where to dump garbage and it will have to be thrown into space” or “Everyone should recycle because it will help the world by producing less waste and save money”.  These are all things that I already heard…

One of my best friends is doing environmental studies and he always tells me to recycle and be environmentally friendly! As a matter of fact he did manage to make me a bit more environmentally conscious. Through his constant nagging he ended up not getting a shopping bag for my groceries (since I had only two items that I had to bring back home). Not much I know, but it’s all about starting no matter how small right?

This entire deal about reminding people is definitely something that is really important. A lot of people have so much in their minds that they tend to forget or not care much because they have more important things to think about. I am definitely guilty of this and I sometimes end up giving too much emphasis on a certain thing and less on, equally important, subjects. It’s definitely a question about balancing your priorities… But who here wants to be constantly told and reminded to do this and that? I think no one…

One valid question that people should ask is: “Why are we being kept reminded of being eco-friendly?” There are a lot of different kinds of answers to this question. However the answer is not that simple because there are many advantages and ripple effects just by being eco-friendly. I will just give a simple answer. As we all know this world is inhabited by 7 billion people. You might ask: “What does this have to do with anything?” Everything! If each and every one of us produces 1 gram of garbage, for example, that would escalate to a really high number which in this case would be 7 billion grams of garbage. Obviously every human being produces waste of some kind so this addition effect brings this number really high! Just imagine how much one person produces in average!! Therefore a huge quantity of garbage is produced each day which has to be brought to the dump and then disposed of. So, as rightly said, if everyone starts looking at how to reduce their waste imprint it would definitely have a huge impact in delaying the inevitable dilemma of garbage taking away space and money which is why we are constantly being reminded.

Aside from preaching on being environmentally friendly I wanted to discuss the fact that trying to reduce your imprint just delays the problem. So then the next question would be: “why can’t someone come up with a solution for all of this?” From what I’ve noticed no one really says much about actual solutions to the problem of garbage. However, after seeing the words “plasma” and “gasification”, I actually thought that someone might have brought us a step closer to the solution! Yes, you heard that right… I am not too informed on this matter and I’m sure there might be some problems with it (especially the cost of such a facility being built and maintained), but if it is true then it would cut at least 70% of the problems concerning the incinerating of garbage!!

From now I will list some of the main points that this new method of disposing of garbage will bring, which I read in the article, and analyze it piece by piece.

“It devours municipal garbage, recycles metals, blasts toxic contaminants and produces electricity and usable byproducts — all with drastic reductions in emissions”

As the author of the article stated… It is too good to be true! It decreases the amount of garbage and space taken by making it into gas. It manages to recycle metals which, I’m sure, would need a special process to even be able to do that mostly because of the heat involved in melting metals. It blasts toxic contaminants which help disposing of it. It also gives back electricity and materials which can be used again. All of this with the major positive effect of reducing emissions!! What do you think: Is this true or fake? I couldn’t believe it myself which is why I kept on reading and found out the process on how such a thing is possible!!

“A method that was developed with the Air Force to dispose of garbage with neither the harmful byproducts of conventional incineration nor the environmental impact of transporting and burying waste.”

As soon as I read this statement I was really surprised. I had no idea that the Air Force would actually use this kind of garbage disposal! The reasoning behind it was to avoid getting the soldiers get sick from the way they disposed of garbage in pits. So one consideration that this brings is: Why would the Air Force be the first one to use the system? That answer has many facets however the main reasons are:

1) It safeguards from illness veterans and also save money from medical expenses once they get back home.

2) They can afford to pay for the system since they have to keep the soldiers in good shape!

 “Cracks complex molecules into simple elements using energy as intense as the sun’s surface, making fuel for about 350 kilowatts of electricity from about 10 tons of garbage each day, enough to run the system.”

This to me is really interesting… Just the fact of cracking complex molecules using energy as intense as the sun’s surface is really bewildering. And what really astonishes me is that, if you do the math, a plant processes 900 tons of garbage each day. This means that 31,500 kilowatts are being produced each day and that is JUST ENOUGH to run the system… The average household produces 18,000 kWh per year, which includes electricity and natural gas used (Dennis Silverman, Household Energy, 2007), and this system produces a little less than twice of what a house consumes in just 1 day!! That is really a lot, however it means that it is a sustainable system to use and doesn’t consume much more than it consumes.

Advantages

Since we said that the energy produced is a lot, the temperatures would have to be pretty high too because we are talking about cracking complex molecules into simple elements! 9,000 degrees helps to break down most of the waste that is brought in to either gases or liquids. Some examples of this would be: “wood disintegrates, plastic turns to gas, and bits of glass and metals turn into a molten pool.” This helps with the distribution of the materials in a simpler form. Since they have different densities, and the metals tend to be heavier, they are found in the bottom layer under the Silica. This means that once they get cooled down they can be taken and used for different processes like the production of steel. Therefore all the metals that get into the base are recycled!

However, during this process, also liquid oxides (oxygen bonded with another element) are formed… So what to do with these elements? First of all they get cooled and vitrified and can be disposed of. They are also considering the possibility of using it as a construction aggregate, but it’s not too sure. However, the main benefit of this process is that the volume of this vitrified waste is a tenth of what you would achieve from normal processes which is a huge reduction in waste size.

The gas passes through and exits the furnace; however the complex gasses and soot pass through a plasma torch polisher and gets broken down reducing the emissions. But doesn’t the process of “incinerating” all this garbage produce toxic gases due to the really high temperature? Normally it would produce such toxic gases because of inadequate or incomplete burning! However, thanks to the process that this garbage disposal method uses, the dioxins and furan emissions (organic compounds which are toxic) are restrained through the injected water which cools the temperature down drastically. This cooling action produces hydrochloric acid and sodium bisulfate. As such these two compounds can then be sold to companies. Apart from the fact that it restrains the amount of dioxins and furan emissions it also cuts down, through the use of three filters, the nitrogen oxides produced (50% from normal methods), sulfur and mercury oxides (5% from normal methods).

Conclusion

I think that this system is a start to upcoming and, maybe, better inventions and processes that can help in the research for a permanent solution to the garbage problem. This type of system would drastically help cut down the emissions and a lot of the problems currently plaguing the old garbage disposal methods. Well then… Why hasn’t it been implemented it aside from the Air Force? There are two reasons for this. The first one is that the actual building of the infrastructure and process, even though it is self-sufficient, it is really costly! With the financial crisis, that was just a few years ago, we are still recovering from the impact that it has had worldwide. The states are trying to be stringent with their budgets. One city that had to declare bankruptcy was Stockton, California, for example. They had to declare it for more than $1 billion in debts. Therefore the states can’t spend much since they still have to think about the employees they have to pay and keep up various essential programs. Obviously self-sustaining processes are better because they are more sustainable in the long run, but they require more time, effort and money to set-up and start. Another problem that has been addressed by the article is the opposition that they are having from environmentalist groups. By having such a system people won’t recycle as much and it diminishes the amount of products that could be created by the use of the recycled garbage. The problem with recycling is that that people would have to be diligent and separate all the different types of garbage. Not only that, but there are already tons and tons of garbage that need to be searched through if you really want to recycle. So, aside from the objection for using the garbage to make useful products and not use those directly for industrial purposes, this type of process would help the situation a lot. The author of the article said that they are thinking of implementing this system in New York since this state, I have to say, is really into service and the environment. This will be a really good test and maybe an example for the other states to follow!!

*Do read the article because it is really interesting! Most of the factual information I found is in the article. I merely like discussing these topics and spread the word.*