GASIFICATION OF WASTES
Because of its varied nature there are many different approaches to the gasification of waste. Some processes have already been described; in particular, but not only, fluid-bed processes have the possibility to be adapted to waste gasification. Others have been purpose developed for waste gasification. At present there are a large number of processes in various stages of development or demonstration. Schwager and Whiting (2002) report “some 71 novel thermal treatment plants that are already operating for waste applications including many that use gasification as their main conversion method”; they go on to list 26 of these, which are considered commercially available. It is noticeable that very few have more than one or two reference plants, and one must expect that over the course of time the market will show which of these are the most effective concepts.
The two most important aspects specific to the gasification of municipal solid wastes are first, the highly heterogeneous nature of the feed, and second, the extensive and stringent regulations on emissions.