The small-scale production of hydrogen, with the co-production of electricity and district heat, by means of the gasification of municipal solid waste

Reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing the recycling of waste are two important challenges for a sustainable society. Fossil fuels contribute to global warming whilst waste causes the pollution of land, water and air. Alternative fuels and innovative waste management systems are needed to address these issues. In this study a gasification process, fuelled with municipal solid waste, was assumed to be integrated into a heat plant to produce hydrogen, electricity and district heat. A whole system, which includes a gasification reactor, heat plant, steam cycle, pressure swing adsorption, gas turbine and compressors was modelled in Microsoft Excel and an energy balance of the system was solved. Data from the scientific literature were used when setting up the heat and mass balances of the gasification process as well as for assessment of the composition of the syngas. The allocation of energy of the products obtained in the process is 29% hydrogen, 26% electricity and 45% district heat. A significant result of the study is the high energy efficiency (88%) during the cold period of the year when the produced heat in the system is utilized for district heat. The system also shows a competitive energy efficiency (56.5%) all year round. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.