Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a Biosphere?
A Biosphere is a Gasification process developed by Dr. Christopher A. McCormack. The process begins with the waste going into the Biosphere chamber there beginning the thermal transformation into a clean combustible gas referred to hereinafter as “syngas”. The syngas is used to produce electricity in a combined cycle gas/steam turbine. Heat generated by the process can be used to produce electricity, superheat steam, heat boiler feed water and distill/desalinate seawater.
What is a Zero Waste Philosophy?
A process operates on a ZERO WASTE philosophy, defined as:
The recycling of all materials back into nature or the marketplace in a manner that protects human health and the environment.
The Biosphere ZERO WASTE philosophy is:
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The conversion of any carbon-based material is in excess of 97%. Non-carbon-based materials are converted into vitrified glass. Molten metals are separated from the glass and recovered. NON-CARBON BASED FEEDSTOCK MATERIALS ARE CONVERTED INTO SALABLE PRODUCTS WITH NOTHING LEFT OVER. THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO NEED FOR A LANDFILL WITH THIS PROCESS!
The Fuel Gas produced is much cleaner than standard gasification processes and only contains traces of some elemental contaminates such as particulates, chlorine, sulfur and metals (amounts depend on the feedstock). There are no tars, furans or dioxins. Depending on the waste input there may be trace amounts of other elements. Most of the particulate is removed by a cyclone back into the process, becoming part of the vitrified glass. The chlorine is then scrubbed out leaving dilute hydrochloric acid (HCL). The sulfur is removed in a wet scrubber, producing sodium bisulfate.
The dilute HCL contains some amounts of particulate and metals, which are removed. The particulate and metals removed at this point amount to a fraction of 1% of the original feedstock.
The dilute HCL can be concentrated to make a 20% salable HCL product. The water that is removed by either process is reused in the plant for makeup water. The only water discharge is cooling tower and boiler blow down.
The sole discharge into the air is from the turbine, which meets EPA emission standards.
Heat from the process is used internally to produce electricity, distill HCL or distill/desalinate sea water.
The technology Thermal Transformation process has been applied commercially to a variety of materials including Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The developer of the process is a well-known and respected company.
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The waste is injected into the Biosphere chamber of thermal transformer and piles up in the body of the reactor. The waste creates a sustained tempiture of up to 2100 ºC.
The organic material does not burn because there is not enough oxygen. The organic matter is transformed to a gas composed primarily of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2) and nitrogen (N). This gas contains substantial energy and can be used in a variety of ways.
The hot gas rises up through the waste piled in the reactor and begins the gasification process on the material piled in the reactor. By the time the waste has reached the bottom of the reactor, the high temperature, oxygen starved environment has totally transformed all organic compounds into a gas.
The gas that exits from the top of the reactor and is made up of primarily carbon monoxide, hydrogen, water and nitrogen. Small amounts of chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, particulate, carbon dioxide and metals with boiling points less than 1200ºC are contained in the gas. Because of the low oxygen atmosphere and high temperature, the base elements of the gas cannot form toxic compounds such as furans, dioxins, NOx, or sulfur dioxide in the reactor.
As the gas exits the reactor it first goes to a proprietary gas reformer and then it is cooled in a series of high temperature heat exchangers. The sensible heat is reduced to about 270ºC and is used to generate high-pressure steam that is fed to a steam turbine to produce electricity.
What fuel source does the Biosphere use?
It can consume as a fuel source; biochemical waste, medical waste, used railroad crossties, biomedical waste, PCB’s, raw sewage, sewage sludge, used carpet, unusable soft coal, industrial byproducts, oilfield waste…, construction & demo material, composite building material, pressure-treated lumber, tires, agricultural surplus or effluent (including Pig, Chicken Farms) Really anything a human can make or produce except concrete, glass, metals and nuclear waste.
Is it worth it to burn bricks and metal?
There is no caloric value in stone or metal, so no. These materials can/should be recycled.
How is the waste handled?
The incoming waste is weighed in and then deposited on the tipping floor from any of the trucks currently in use that pick-up and or transfer MSW. No tedious sorting or handling is needed. The only separation that is required will be large oversized pieces that won't fit into the shredder, heavy metal items like engines that may slow down the shredder or items that need special pre-processing, such as refrigerators, freezers and AC units that need the Freon removed. Hazardous waste and medical waste are handled separately and not co-mingled with normal waste.
The system is designed to process waste as quickly as possible. During delivery hours the waste is delivered faster than it can be gasified. Part of the waste is stored for processing at night and on weekends and holidays. Any oversized material is shredded and then conveyed to storage.
The waste is completely cycled every day. Should unscheduled shutdowns occur, the waste received from the municipality goes into the storage area which is designed to handle normal surges and continue accepting the waste.
What is the difference between incineration and gasification
Click [ Difference between Incineration and Gasification ] for detailed information.
Are there different types of Incinerators?
Yes, click [ Types of Incinerators ] for detailed information.
Are there different types of Gasifiers?
Yes, click [ Types of Gasifiers ] for detailed information.
What is the typical operating temperature for Gasification and Incineration?
Incinerators 800 - 1800°F / 426.67 - 982.23°C (without adding auxiliary fuels)
Gasification 1742 - 2012°F / 950 - 1100°C
What are the by-products of gasification?
Standard Solid Waste becomes inert ash or Pozzolana, also known as pozzolanic ash, is a fine, sandy volcanic ash.
What can the by-product of gasification be used for?
Modern pozzolanic cements are a mix of natural or industrial pozzolans and Portland cement. In additional to underwater use, the pozzolana’s high alkalinity makes it especially resistant to common forms of corrosion from sulphates. Once fully hardened, the Portland cement-Pozzolana blend may be stronger that Portland cement due to its lower porosity, which also makes it more resistant to water absorption and spalling.
Does Gasifier and Incinerator waste by-product need to be land filled?
Incinerators: YES
Gasification: NO
What temperature does the Biosphere operate at?
3812° F / 2100°C
Does the process produce SO2 and NOx?
Organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and acenaphthalene have been detected at very low levels in the syngas from some gasification systems. However, when the syngas is used as a fuel and combusted in a gas turbine, the emissions of these compounds or other organic HAPs are either not detected or present at a sub-part-per-billion concentrations in the emitted stack gas. In addition, emissions of particulate matter are found to be one to two orders of magnitude below the RCRA emissions standards and the recently proposed MACT standard for hazardous waste incinerators. By reducing atmosphere with the gasification reactor prevents the formation of oxidized species such as SO2 and NOx
What is Synthesis Gas (Syngas)?
Syngas consists primarily of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and has less than half the energy density of natural gas. Syngas is combustible and often as a fuel source or as an intermediate for the production of other chemical. Syngas for use as a fuel is most often produced by gasification of coal or municipal waste mainly by the following paths:
C + H2O => CO + H2
C + O2 => CO2
CO2 + C => 2CO
How is the Syngas cleaned up?
After the fuel gas has left the heat exchanger, approximately 85% of the particulates are removed in a cyclone. A smaller percentage of the metals are also removed with the particulate.
The gas then goes through a scrubber where the hydrochloric acid (HCL) is scrubbed out to form dilute HCL water. The liquid goes through a series of nana filter membranes where the particulates and metal in the liquid are removed. The metals and particulate at this stage can either be sold to a metal refiner or removed to a landfill. This small amount of material is the only potential material that goes back to a landfill and represents less than a fraction of 1 percent of the waste feedstock. The clean HCL water is concentrated to 15-20% for commercial sale.
The water in the gas is condensed out and is used to provide clean makeup water for the rest of the plant.
The hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the gas is scrubbed out to make fertilizer grade sulfur using a biological process or alternatively can be converted into sodium bisulfate. The gas then goes to a gas compressor and then to the gas turbine.
How much water does the Biosphere produce as a by-product?
When the syngas is used to produce steam which is used in a steam turbine;
It will produce 200000 liters / 52,834 gallons per hour or 4,800,000 liters / 1,268,016 gallons per day of potable water.
How much garbage in tonnage is required per line to operate per day?
Each line will consume 172 tons per day. Each systems yearly requirement is 64,000 tons.
How much residue is generated from the process?
The reduction is 93% of volume; 172 tons is reduced to 12.04 tons.
What is the waste weight to energy conversion?
High-pressure steam from the primary heat exchanger goes to a steam turbine where it is converted to electricity. The electricity generated with this steam source provides most of the power needed for internal power requirements. The system is capable of generating all its own internal requirements.
The fuel gas goes into a gas/steam combined cycle turbine where it is used to produce electricity.
All the available heat in the process is used to make electricity or steam. The discharge temperature off the gas turbine is less than 1300ºC. Any low-pressure steam (small amount) not used in the process is condensed.
A facility designed with electricity production can export approximately 0.84 megawatt of electricity for each ton of MSW, depending on the moisture content and characterization of the MSW.
What is the size of the building needed per line?
10,000 square feet / 0.092903 hectares.
What is the quality of the different types of garbage?
Tires and plastics are petroleum based produces hence will create a high temperature per weight. But the Biosphere was designed to turn all waste into energy regard less of the compounds.
Is there any additional equipment needed to consume tires or any other different waste streams?
No there is no equipment changes need to consume the different types of waste.
Does the Biosphere operate 24 hours a day?
Yes, once it is started it will run 24/7 for 11 months at which point it is shut down for inspection and maintenance.
Would the petroleum industry benefit from the use of gasification?
Conventional fuels such as coal and oil, as well as low- or negative-value materials and wastes such as petroleum coke, heavy refinery residuals, secondary oil-bearing refinery materials, municipal sewage sludge, hydrocarbon contaminated soils, and chlorinated hydrocarbon byproducts have all been used successfully in gasification operations.
Gasification of these materials has many potential benefits when compared with conventional options such combustion or disposal by incineration. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Agency is considering an exclusion from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for listed secondary oil-bearing refinery materials when processed in a gasification system, exclusion analogous to the one granted for insertion of RCRA listed refinery wastes into the coking process at refineries. In addition, representatives of the gasification industry have asked EPA to consider a broader exclusion that would include gasification of any carbonaceous material, including hazardous wastes from other industrial sectors (e.g., chemical manufacturing) in modern, high-temperature slagging gasifiers.