Garbage is the main concern that results in water and air pollution that further results in various disease outbreaks such as cholera and Hepatitis. A new technique knows as ‘Plasma Gasification’ can literally convert garbage of any kind into useful and valuable energy and that too by spending much less than what cities presently spend on conventional waste disposal techniques. The technique is being developed by a company called Startech. The company explains the technique as a reverse of the big bang where we get something from nothing.
‘Plasma Gasification’ makes use of a sealed, stainless steel vessel which is filled with a stable gas, such as pure nitrogen. When a 60-volt current passes between two electrodes placed inside the container, electrons are ripped from the air. This ripping up of electrons converts the gas into plasma. As the current continues to flow, it creates an intense energy field with plasma arcs, which reaches temperatures as high as 30,000˚F. This intense heat disintegrates garbage into its basic elements by tearing the molecular bonds of the materials.
The technique can work with trash of all types except radioactive waste due to its indestructible isotopes. Since the technique can be deployed on a mixture of trash, it eliminates the cost of sorting waste by hand.
The technique produces two by-products that are an obsidian-like glass and synthetic gas. The glass can be recycled as a raw material for tiles and the 2,200˚F mixture of gases can be cooled to generate steam for electricity. This mix can also be converted into fuel such as ethanol, natural gas or hydrogen. About 67% of the fuel generated in the process can be used to run the ‘Plasma Gasification’ plant and the remaining can be sold to the grid for profit. The machine that costs about $250 million could break down 2,000 tons of waste daily. The profit generated by the process can recover the cost of the machine in just ten years. The cost can also be recovered much earlier than that if the by-products are sold.
Such machines can also reduce the current cost required to dispose waste from $90 per ton to just $36 per ton and after generating surplus electricity, the machine would actually make $15 per ton.
Via: Inventor Spot
