U.S. Plasma Gasification Waste Treatment Firm Secures Investment

InEnTec constructed the first Process Test Facility PEM at its Technology Center in Richland, Washington in 1996. The system began operations in April 1997 and remains in active use today for demonstrations and research. It has the same unit operations as a full-scale PEM system including the Pregasifier 05 April 2012 Bend, Oregon based InEnTec, a developer of a plasma gasification technology to convert wastes into fuels and other products, has secured a strategic investment from Lakeside Energy. Lakeside Energy is a portfolio company of private equity firm, American Securities which specialises in power generation and renewable energy technologies and headquartered in Chicago. InEnTec said that its Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) system is capable of converting household, industrial, and chemical wastes into fuels and other products. The plasma gasification process The PEM system uses heating from electrically conducting gas - plasma - to treat wastes. According to the company, the systems are highly effective in processing a wide variety of waste streams, including hazardous, medical, radioactive, industrial, municipal and tire wastes. InEnTec said that the system can also produce industrial materials such as roofing tiles, insulating panels, sand-blasting media and other construction-related products from the glass and recoverable metals. The system utilises a pregasifier, in which approximately 80% of the organic portion of the waste is converted into syngas. The remaining feedstock, consisting of inorganic materials, carbon, and un-processed organics pass through to the outlet at the bottom of the Pregasifier and into the PEM Process Chamber. These materials are dropped onto a molten glass surface near the plasma-arc zone, within the PEM Process Chamber. According to InEnTec the plasma arc provides the intense energy needed to rapidly gasify the remaining organic materials, converting them to syngas. The remaining inorganic components are incorporated into the molten glass bath. The syngas exits the PEM Process Chamber and flows to the Thermal Residence Chamber (TRC). The TRC provides additional residence time at a high enough temperature to fully process any remaining organic materials allow the gasification reaction to reach equilibrium. The syngas is then cleaned through a series of processes ready for final use. The system is its use of separate power supplies for the DC plasma and the AC joule heating system. The DC power is used to produce the plasma-arc, which provides most of the energy to gasify the wastes. Meanwhile an independent AC power heats and maintains the glass bath temperature, allowing the plasma-arc power to be focused on the gasification process and not on maintaining the molten pool - as in typical plasma based systems according to InEnTec. Investment InEnTec previously announced a similar deal in which Waste Management (NYSE: WM) took a significant equity position in InEnTec, and InEnTec became the sole owner of S4 Energy Solutions LLC. Formed in February 2009 to convert solid waste, such as household garbage, into clean fuels for electricity production and transportation, S4 Energy Solutions recently started up a commercial scale PEM at Waste Management's Columbia Ridge site in Oregon. InEnTec Chemical LLC, located in Fleming Island, FL, was formed as a joint venture company by InEnTec and Lakeside Energy in October 2008 to finance, build and operate PEM facilities at chemical manufacturing sites. The company currently owns and operates a PEM at Dow Corning's (NYSE: GLW) silicon-based materials manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. The Midland PEM began start-up in late 2009, and recycles hazardous chemical residuals into reusable process chemicals and clean syngas used as fuel for steam. As part of the latest investment InEnTec Chemical LLC becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of InEnTec and Lakeside Energy becomes a significant shareholder in InEnTec. President and CEO of InEnTec, Karl A. Schoene explained: "With full ownership of InEnTec Chemical and S4 Energy Solutions, InEnTec Inc. now has 100% ownership of all InEnTec operating subsidiaries and operating plants." According to Schoene this puts the company in the position to expedite the financing and deployment of new PEM projects, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate its strategic plan for corporate growth. Read More Grid Injection from Plasma Gasification of Wastes A project that utilises plasma gasification to generate a bio-substitute natural gas for direct injection into the national gas grid is under development by National Grid, Advanced Plasma Power and Progressive Energy. Plasma Arc Waste Gasification Plant to be Made in Marion? The city of Marion, Iowa close to agreeing a deal that would see the development of a plasma arc waste gasification facility by Florida based Plasma Power. Microwave Plasma Gasification Heats Up in the U.S. Plasma gasification has become a buzzword and the new kid on the waste to energy block. One company has trialled its new process in Mexico, known as microwave plasma gasification, and is starting work on its first commercial facility in Texas. Tom Freyberg investigates claims that the process is 60% more efficient and can produce diesel from waste. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter