The commercial success of PAWDS was confirmed by the purchase of a commercial system by Carnival in 2002 and the decision by the US Navy to contract Northrop Grumman Newport News in 2008 to procure a PAWDS unit for the USS Gerald R. Ford. The PAWDS for the Ford carrier was delivered in late 2011. The USS John F. Kennedy, was received in 2012.
Description of the technology
The Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS) is a versatile, compact and easy to operate waste-to-energy system that can be started and stopped within a few minutes, making the system extremely safe and flexible. Originally developed for shipboard waste destruction, its extremely compact and cost-effective design makes it an ideal solution for land-based applications. PAWDS uses the intense energy of a plasma plume to efficiently gasify waste material. The resulting syngas can then be immediately combusted. It is important to note that plasma runs off of electricity, and as such, will not require a generator and fossil fuels to operate.
The PAWDS is to be composed of the following main sections:
- Feed Preparation System – Sorting equipment – Milling System
- Plasma–Fired Eductor
- Combustion chamber
- Off-gas treatment system
The PAWDS works as follows: Unsorted Mixed Solid Waste (MSW) is fed to the shredder, where its size is reduced. The shredded waste is then conveyed to a hopper-mixer where it is then pneumatically fed to a mill which transforms it into a lint-like substance. The milled waste is then introduced into the plasma fired educator (gasifier) where it is converted to a syngas. The syngas then fed to the combustion chamber, where air is injected to ensure the full combustion of the syngas. The resulting combustion gas is then cooled dramatically to under 100oC in order to prevent the formation of dioxins and furans. The gas is then passed through a Venturi scrubber to remove particulate matter. The whole system is kept under negative pressure by an induced draft (ID) fan, which simply exhausts the clean combustion gas to the atmosphere.
Ready Commercial offer
Strebl Energy and PyroGenesis is pleased to offer a Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System in order to meet your needs regarding clean waste management. The PAWDS showcased in the proposal (ask for a copy), will manage the 5 MT per day of waste with energy recovery equivalent to 800kW (687.9Mcal/h) suitable for high-rise building and building complex in Singapore. We have ellaborated preliminary study for potential client in Singapore with attractive payback and long term profitability.
