Low Cost Energy Vectors for a Microwave Induced Plasma Gasification Sytem

提高废物处理计划的能源效率一直是该行业的长期目标，特别是对于气化等高级热处理(ATT)。尽管ATT比大规模燃烧效率更高，但英国的ATT工厂数量有限，因为效率收益往往太低，无法克服高昂的资本支出/运营成本。我们相信，我们的微波等离子体(MIP)技术将提高ATT的效率，并使其成为更可行的方案，以从我们日益增加的废物中产生热量和电力。我们的研究表明，利用我们的MIP技术产生的废气作为等离子体气体，我们可以通过等离子体反应产生富氢合成气体，比现有技术具有更高的CV。更高的CV产品意味着ATT可以产生更多的电力，单位能源的二氧化碳排放量更低。我们的研究还表明，富氢气体不仅可以用于燃气发动机和锅炉，还可以用于高温燃料电池(HTFC)。鉴于HTFC的成本正在下降，我们的MIP技术可以利用这种高效的燃料电池技术。该项目建立在以前资助的研究基础上，将消除利用ATT和HTFC从废物中获取低碳能源的重大障碍。

Increasing the efficiency of energy from waste schemes has been a long-term goal for the sector, especially for advanced thermal treatments (ATTs) such as gasification. Despite ATTs being more efficient than mass burn, there are only a limited number of ATT plants in the UK as the efficiency gains are often to low to overcome high capex/opex costs. We believe that our microwave plasma (MIP) technology will improve the efficiency of ATTs and make them a more viable proposition to generate heat and power from our ever increasing waste arisings. Our research suggests that using the exhaust gases with our MIP technology as a plasma gas, we can generate a hydrogen-rich synthesis gas via plasma reactions, that has a higher CV than current technologies. A higher CV product means that ATTs can generate more power with lower CO2 emissions per unit energy. Our research also suggests that the hydrogen rich gas can be used not only in gas engines and boilers but also in high temperature fuel cells (HTFCs). Given that the cost of HTFC are decreasing, our MIP technology can make the use of this highly efficient fuel cell technology. This project builds on previously funded research and will remove significant barriers to technology uptake for low carbon energy from waste using ATTs and HTFCs.