Parameter

Incineration (typical)

Gasification Systems (various)

Plasma Systems (various)

The Elementa Process

Capital Cost ($M/net MW)

6 to 12

5 to 7

5 to 7

3 to 5

Scalability

Limited Modularity
Scalable

Limited Modularity
Limited Scalability

Limited Modularity
Scalable

Complete Modularity
Very Scalable

Energy Use of Process

100% of energy is contained in noxious exhaust gas, which must be cleaned and then the heat captured by steam is converted to electrical energy, limiting conversion efficiency to approximately 20%

A significant portion of the feedstock energy

is used as a heat source for the process via direct combustion, not recoverable as electricity

Syngas is converted to electricity to run the plasma arc, at a substantial conversion loss, a significant penalty for final plant output efficiency

A direct feed of clean syngas powers the kiln conversion process, maximizing simplicity and plant output efficiency

Need to Modify Waste Feedstock (aside from extraction of metals)

Must be dried and sized, small particles not used

Most systems cannot handle waste material variability (thus not suitable for MSW) and feedstock must be dried

Requires high

BTU value of feedstock (high % of plastics)

Used wet-as-received

Energy Conversion (MW/MW feed)2

17%3

12% - 16%

15% to 25%

34%

Waste Mass Reduction (%)

75%3

85%

90%5

90%

Waste Volume Reduction (%)

85%3

93%

98%5

98%

Dioxins & Furans (ng/m3)

Large

Some

Not detectable

Not detectable

Fly Ash (Kg/tone)

8.04

0.96 (and bottom ash)

0.0095

0.009