Solid Waste Alternative

A new and different type of plasma arc waste conversion that uses plasma to refine gases produced during waste conversion, rather than to destroy waste by brute force as do other plasma systems, has recently shown itself to be successful on a full commercial scale. PlascoEnergy Group completed a plasma-arc waste demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada at the Trail Road Landfill, to process 100 metric tonnes per day volume of municipal solid waste. Unlike other plasma waste processing facilities, Plasco Energy Group's process does not use plasma to destroy waste, but rather to refine gases produced during waste conversion, in order to allow them to be used to run an internal combustion gas engine and produce industry-leading low emissions. On October 24, 2007, the Plasco Trail Road facility began delivering power to the grid.

The Plasco conversion system, which uses plasma to refine gases rather than expose them to extremely high temperatures, and whose liner is composed of refractory brick rather than metal, is not susceptible to premature attack of vessel liners. Its emissions are also much lower than any other thermal waste processing system, and by converting waste to CO2 and water, rather than to methane, the greenhouse gas emissions of the process are much less than competing technologies such as landfills. Plasco Energy is proposing a scaled up residual waste plasma gasification facility for Los Angeles.

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