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March 3, 2010 – Vol.14 No.50 S4 Energy Solutions Announces Plasma Gasification Project. S4 Energy Solutions, a joint venture by Waste Management, Inc. and InEnTec, have announced plans to develop a plasma gasification facility at Waste Management's Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon. The planned facility will be a comprehensive and integrated S4 designed solution that will convert municipal solid waste into clean fuels and renewable energy. Construction is expected to begin in the early summer, with startup scheduled by year end. The project is expected to create up to 28 jobs during the construction phase, with up to 16 permanent green jobs when the facility is operational. With the S4 system, waste materials are prepared and fed into a first phase gasification chamber that operates at temperatures of approximately 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. After the first phase, the waste materials flow into a second closed chamber where they are superheated to temperatures between 10,000 and 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit using an electricity-conducting gas called plasma. The intense heat of the second stage plasma gasifier rearranges the molecular structure of the waste, transforming organic (carbon-based) materials into an ultra-clean, synthesis gas (syngas). The clean syngas may then be converted into transportation fuels such as ethanol and diesel, or industrial products like hydrogen and methanol. The syngas could also be used as a substitute for natural gas for heating or electricity generation. In a secondary stage of the Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) (TM) process, inorganic (non-carbon-based) materials are transformed into environmentally inert products.
The new plasma gasification facility will complement the landfill site's other renewable energy production. Waste Management began generating renewable electricity at the site in January 2010 with the startup of a new landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) facility. The LFGTE process captures methane gas generated as waste decomposes in the landfill and then uses the gas to generate 6 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The electricity is powering 5,000 homes in Seattle through an agreement with Seattle City Light. Wind power is also generated at the landfill, with 67 windmills producing more than 100 MW of renewable energy for PacifiCorp. "Our goal is to extract as much value as possible from waste and this project will help us recover valuable resources to generate clean fuels, renewable energy and other beneficial products," said Dean Kattler, area vice president for Waste Management Pacific Northwest. Together with Waste Management's other renewable energy initiatives, the joint venture has moved Waste Management toward meeting two of its sustainability goals, doubling its renewable energy production to a energy equivalent of powering two million homes by 2020, and investing in emerging technologies for managing waste. It is also complementary to Waste Management's comprehensive waste services in the areas of recycling, landfill, and waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy capabilities. (3/3/10)
Links: S4 Energy Solutions Waste Management InEnTec
Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: Yes
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