MIHG Gasification Technology
Gasification is a well known industrial process which has been implemented commercially for carbonaceous feedstocks like coal, biomass and heavy oil. In the gasification process the feedstock is broken down into synthesis gas (syngas) composed of simple molecules, predominately CO and H2 inside a sealed reactor vessel. Controlled quantities of an oxidant are injected into the reactor to generate high temperatures, typically above 800 degC, necessary for gasification.
Wildfire Energy's MIHG (Moving Injection Horizontal Gasification) technology is fundamentally different to all existing gasifier designs. Whereas, conventional gasifiers move the feedstock to the oxygen, MIHG moves the oxygen to the feedstock.
Oxygen
Syngas
Video
See a video of the MIHG technology concept below:
The key benefit of this approach is a batch operation which eliminates the need for feedstock pre-treatment and complex feeding mechanisms. These features are particularly important for waste feedstocks which have highly variable quality. The MIHG technology reduces costs and complexity, enabling distributed energy from waste projects to be viable for the first time.
Key Features
1.
Batch process for feedstock
2.
No feedstock pre-treatment
3.
No feeding mechanisns
4.
High gasification temperature
5.
Continuous syngas production
6.
Ash is removed as a solid inert slag
7.
Integrated pre-drying for wet feedstock
8.
Low syngas exit temperature
Feedstocks and Products
Feedstocks
The MIHG gasification technology is specifically designed to process a wide range of carbonaceous waste feedstocks including:
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Commercial & industrial (C&I)
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Construction & demolition (C&D)
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Municipal solid waste (MSW)
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Mixed plastics (when co-fed with other feedstocks)
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Agriculture and forestry wastes, such as farming and woody biomass
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Urban biomass, such as green waste
The preferred feedstocks are residual wastes which are destined for landfill and for which higher value uses can not be found.
Products
The clean syngas produced from the MIHG process can be transformed into a range of energy products. Wildfire is initially focusing on the production of electricity, renewable syngas and hydrogen.
Once project sizes reach over 50 ktpa then the MIHG technology can be considered for the production of renewable chemicals (such as methanol, ammonia), synthetic fuels (such as diesel and jet fuel) and biofuels (such as ethanol) using proven catalytic synthesis and syngas fermentation approaches from a range of vendors.
Competitive Position
Gasification is considered to be one of the most promising technologies for converting carbonaceous wastes into valuable energy products. However, existing technologies such as high temperature (eg. plasma) and fluidised bed gasification are designed for large scale projects >100 ktpa and do not scale down economically. Therefore they are unviable for smaller scale projects. Similarly, fixed bed and fluidised bed gasifiers are unable to process MSW, C+D and C+I wastes without pre-treatment into RDF, refuse derived fuel.
The unique features of the MIHG technology enable small scale energy from waste projects to be viable for the first time.
The MIHG technology has advantages over existing methods, especially for small scale and distributed energy from waste projects. In particular, MIHG is able to process a wide range of feedstocks and capable of converting them into a wide range of products.
