Waste Reduction Technologies

  Gasification^2 is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures (>700°C), without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam. The resulting gas mixture is called syngas and is itself a fuel. The power derived from gasification of biomass and combustion of the resultant gas is considered to be a source of renewable energy;[1][2][3][4] the gasification of fossil fuel derived materials such as plastic is not considered to be renewable energy.

The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is potentially more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel because it can be combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel cells, so that the thermodynamic upper limit to the efficiency defined by Carnot's rule is higher or not applicable. Syngas may be burned directly in gas engines, used to produce methanol and hydrogen, or converted via the Fischer-Tropsch process into synthetic fuel. Gasification can also begin with material which would otherwise have been disposed of such as biodegradable waste. In addition, the high-temperature process refines out corrosive ash elements such as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas production from otherwise problematic fuels. Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial scales to generate electricity.

2. "Gasification." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2011.