Biogas-Powered Steam Gasification of Solid-Organic Waste for Energy Production

Harnesses Anaerobic Digestion to Convert Municipal Waste Sources into Syngas for Power

This steam gasification process converts solid-organic waste into syngas for power production. Solid-organic waste comes from ubiquitous sources such as municipal solid waste, biomass, wastewater sludge, municipal wastewater, and animal waste. The conversion of organic waste into products like electric power, green hydrogen, and syngas occurs via steam gasification, an efficient process for green energy production. The high-temperature steam converts carbon-containing materials into syngas, a mixture of H2 and CO, by reacting with steam only. However, reacting carbon-containing materials with steam requires very high temperatures, and achieving these high temperatures requires conventional fuels, like fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels yields greenhouse gases, or the biomass itself, producing sulfur and nitrous oxides. A pathway to steam gasification of organic waste avoiding the harmful byproducts would allow clean, self-contained syngas production from everyday waste sources.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a steam gasification process that powers itself with biogas extracted via anaerobic digestion, opening a route to syngas production without fossil fuels and using only municipal solid waste as feedstock. The syngas outflow can produce power, synthetic fuels, or chemicals with subsequent processing.

Application

Converts solid-organic waste into syngas fuel using clean steam gasification for energy production

Advantages

• Reuses organic waste as the feedstock for syngas production, yielding a carbon-neutral fuel from widely available recaptured waste products
• Employs a flexible design, allowing solar energy to fill in for biogas in producing clean high-temperature steam if necessary
• Avoids dependence on fossil fuels with a biogas-driven pathway, reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• The system uses a skid-mounted process, generating syngas from municipal waste or raw sewage

Technology

This steam gasification system produces energy, such as syngas, green hydrogen, steam, or electricity, using solid-organic wastes as the only feedstock. It employs an anaerobic digester to break down biodegradable materials and produce biogas comprising CH4 and CO2. The system flexibly deploys this biogas as an internal heat source to dry the organic waste and increase the temperature of the steam.

The dried organic waste and high-temperature steam combine in the gasifier to produce an outflow of syngas and gasified components. The resulting product exits the gasifier through a moisture separator, yielding syngas pure enough for use as an energy source. This system also flexibly incorporates concentrated solar plants to supplement the biogas as a clean heat source for heating the steam.