Earth Engineering Center: Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste and Research Activity Overview

Transcription

1 ISWA Working Group Meeting on Energy Recovery: Spring 2017 April 6 7, 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark Earth Engineering Center: Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste and Research Activity Overview Demetra A. Tsiamis, Associate Director, EEC-CCNY Marco J. Castaldi, Director, EEC-CCNY and WTERT-US Nickolas J. Themelis, Director, EEC-Columbia and Global WTERT

2 Overview Intro to Earth Engineering Center and Global WTERT Plastics in the U.S. Current State of MSW Advanced Thermal Treatment in the U.S. Plastics Pyrolysis Research Additional Research Activities at EEC Projects and Initiatives for

3 Earth Engineering Center We are a center that conducts research on extracting value from waste via material and energy recovery processes Directors: Associate Directors: Founded in 1998 by Professor Nickolas J. Themelis at Columbia University. Second organization established by Professor Marco J. Castaldi in 2012 at The City College of New York, CUNY; now exists as 2 sister organizations at City College of New York and Columbia University Marco J. Castaldi Demetra Tsiamis Global Waste-to-Energy Research & Technology Council (WTERT): a major program of EEC o Has academic-industry groups in 12 countries, including China and India o Dr. Nickolas Themelis, Director, Global WTERT o Dr. Marco Castaldi, Director, WTERT-US Nickolas Themelis Thanos Bourtsalas

4 Earth Engineering Center We collaborate with industry sponsors and government agencies on applied research to advance and innovate the field of sustainable waste management and conversion Our research spans laboratory experimental analysis to pilot scale testing of commercial technologies Our worldwide network of EEC Research Associates include: Students Academic faculty Engineering professionals

5 Sponsors & Collaborators All points of the waste managements spectrum. Waste Generators: Reduction via education & Awareness ACC represents plastics manufacturers they have an interest in end of life alternatives for non-recyclable plastics Public Waste Converters, both established and start-up companies: Reuse Sector Need for clear direction and further education & awareness Waste to energy End Users of Waste Conversion Processes: Start-up: wet waste gasification Start-up: wastewater microbial fuel cells Interest in use of waste syngas for turbines Interest in use of waste to power cement kilns

6 Plastics in the U.S. In 2014, U.S. generated 258 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) Plastics accounted for approximately 13% of total MSW Recyclable plastics are designated as rigid plastics of primarily #1-PET, #2-HDPE, and #5-PP resins Recent EEC CCNY study determined that plastics generation is currently 83x more what it is was in 1960; meanwhile MSW generation is only 2X Non-recyclable plastics are primarily films and multi-layer packaging

7 Fate of Plastics in U.S. Case study: New York City (NYC) Non-recyclable plastics (NRP) make up 84% of plastics in NYC MSW More than 50% of recyclable plastics are not recycled Minimum percentage since based solely on recyclables collection and does not account for material recovery facility (MRF) residual Breakdown of NYC MSW Fate of NYC Recyclable Waste Source: Tsiamis (2013)

8 Fate of Plastics in U.S. (ctd.) 2014 EEC-Columbia study showed the fate of plastics in the 50 states Fate of Plastic Waste in the Fifty States Numerous states have worse plastics recycling rates than New York Diversion rate of New York City in 2016: 16% Maximum ideal diversion rate of NYC: 43% o Where diversion rate is defined as: Tons of recycling collected/tons of recycling and refuse collected Source: Themelis and Mussche (2014)

9 Current State of Alternative Thermal Treatment Technologies for MSW in U.S. CO 2 emissions in U.S. has been decreasing and is expected to continue to decrease even with increased GDP --> reduced interest in carbon capture and reduction Shale gas necessitates alternative uses for methane THEREFORE Waste-to-energy and Alternative Thermal Treatment Technologies in the U.S. are: Not viewed as energy alternatives Only way it will increase is FOR resource recovery Source: CEP August 2015

10 Current State of Alternative Thermal Treatment Technologies for MSW in U.S. U.S. waste management focus is currently on organics stream and anaerobic digestion Reduction of plastic waste in U.S. MSW does not seem likely in the near future: o No plastic bag bans, Styrofoam ban in NYC overruled o MSW decoupling from PCE may be attributed to plastics seen as positive impact of plastics Main Driver for ATT in U.S.: Zero Waste Initiatives i.e. NYC s OneNYC plan aims to send zero waste to landfills by 2030 Zero waste is not possible without energy recovery! o Recent EEC CCNY study showed that in an ideal recycling scenario for paper and plastics, 15% of the material stream would still be left as residual *final manuscript in review Gasification and pyrolysis are attractive technologies to decision makers compared to WTE but not proven yet

11 Plastics Pyrolysis Research at EEC EEC at CCNY and Columbia has conducted due diligences of several pyrolysis technologies in the U.S. for non-recyclable plastics (NRP) Plastics-to-Oil Commercial Technologies Evaluated by EEC Company Facilities EEC Calculated Yield Agilyx Oregon 3.86 bbl oil/ton of NRP Envion Washington D.C bbl oil/ton of NRP P2O Niagara Falls, New York 4.4 bbl oil/ton of NRP Climax Global Energy New Jersey 0.8 ton wax/ton of NRP Golden Renewable Energy Yonkers, New York TBA Pyrocrat India 0.7 L/kg of NRP

12 Golden Renewable Energy (GRE) EEC Due Diligence GRE process converts non-recyclable waste plastics into diesel and home heating oil to be sold back into the market 24 ton/day commercial capacity and processes all resins except for #3-PVC 8 ton/day demonstrational facility located in Yonkers, NY EEC CCNY conducted on site testing for due diligence and air emissions evaluation

13 Analytical Results of GRE Samples Continuous syngas and air emissions testing Samples were collected and analyzed at EEC CCNY labs GRE syngas composition and calorific value SPECIES H2 O2 N2 CH4 CO CO2 C2H4 C2H6 C2H2 TOTAL Btu/ft^3 HHV LHV GRE char composition Element C O Ca Ti Cl Fe Si Al Na Mg S K P Syngas - Due diligence Syngas - Feb (wt %) (wt %) Syngas - Due diligence Syngas - Feb wt%

14 Summary of Results Continuous plastics pyrolysis process Processing capacity: ~300 kg/hr Final oil product has similar properties to traditional petroleum based fuels o Higher Heating Value ~ 37 MJ/kg High BTU gas recycled to fuel burners of process o BTU value: ~900 Btu/cf Air emissions testing met local health regulatory standards Solid residual generated was approximately 5.6% of total mass of plastics fed to process Yields of pyrolysis processes range from 2-6 bbl* of oil/ton of plastics *final value determination is subject to measurement confirmations in progress

15 Impact of NRP on Methanol Production from Waste Gasification Conducted pilot testing of Enerkem process at City of Edmonton s Advanced Energy Research Facility (AERF) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Tested biomass-nrp mixtures of varying plastic concentration and measured syngas composition to quantify impact of NRP on methanol production Enerkem commercial facility, Edmonton, Canada Design capacity: approx. 300 tpd Enerkem process at Advanced Energy Research Facility (AERF) Edmonton, Canada Capacity: 8 tpd

16 Impact of NRP on Methanol Production from Waste Gasification Ratio of Methanol Production of Plastic Feedstock Mixtures Compared to 100% Biomass Feedstock, includes estimates from equilibrium model Source: Tsiamis and Castaldi

17 Additional Projects at EEC EEC CCNY EEC-Columbia Quantifying New York City Reuse (collaboration with Department of Sanitation of New York) Beneficial reuse of ash from WTE Boiler corrosion and material optimization for WTE boilers Investigation into cause of melting grates in WTE facilities Determining accurate heating value of non-recyclable plastics Role of plastics in decoupling of MSW from economic growth Metals recovery from multilayer plastic packaging Impact of NRP on methanol production from waste gasification Investigation into cause of elevated temperatures in MSW landfills Use of syngas and landfill gas mixtures in IC engines Assessment of worldwide waste gasification market for gas turbine applications Continuous testing and analysis of prototype and commercial wet waste gasification Impact of RDF on cement kiln emissions Use of Low Pressure Steam from WTE for Desalination of Sea Water Current recycling of MSW in China and Recommendation for Further Development LCA Comparison of Anaerobic Digestion of Food Wastes with WTE Transformation of Non-Recycled Plastics to Oil: Industrial Scale Processes Worldwide Advances Carbon Mitigation Costs in China Thermal Spraying Applications in WTE Boilers IWM in Santiago and Recommendation of WTE for Santiago WTE Contribution to Meeting GHG Goals in China: The Socolow Pie Chart E Waste Management in Mexico Carbon Mitigation Costs of Various WM Methods WTE for Sao Paolo: Policies and Regulations Central WTE in Aegean with Shredded Material from Several Islands LCA & Economic Comparison of SNCR vs. SCR Effect of Waste Management on NYC Public Health, Present Optimization of Metal Recovery from WTE Plants

18 Waste-to-Energy Ash: Environmental Catalysis Apps Microbes in wastewater have potential applications in fuel cells Ash from waste incinerators as substrate material in fuel cell Catalytic Lean-NOx abatement Metal oxidation state change Oxide to base metal

19 Sustainable Waste Power Systems (SWPS) CCNY, Commercial in Saugerties NY 3 Dry TPD Equivalent Intake Up to 85% water content Char can be used as soil amendment

20 Looking Forward: EEC/WTERT Initiatives for publications in 2016; new textbook release in 2017 WTERT Bi-Annual conference will be held at CCNY in 2018 Release of workshop report from 2016 Megacity Waste Management Dialogue hosted by EEC CCNY Continued innovative and advancing research program in all areas of waste management hierarchy (Mesa Grande plastics pyrolysis project) Expansion of waste education and public outreach with seminar series and potential TV segment on CUNY TV Develop research collaborations with manufacturing industry as part of producer responsibility initiatives

21 Thank You! Questions? Demetra Tsiamis, Associate Director Earth Engineering Center CCNY Website: