Isle of Wight gasification facility
Encyclopedia
The Isle of Wight gasification facility is a municipal waste treatment plant in southern England
. It entered the commissioning phase in autumn 2008. Operation has been suspended by the authorities since May 2010 due to elevated dioxin
emissions.
The facility has been funded as part of Defra's New Technologies Demonstrator Programme
and is one of the first and only incinerators in the United Kingdom
to be classed as a gasification system employed for the combustion of refuse derived fuel originating from municipal waste. The plant is operated by Waste Gas Technology UK Ltd, part of the ENER·G group, and utilises the Energos technology; Energos is also part of the ENER·G group. The Energos system was retrofitted into a small conventional incinerator plant and will combust an estimated 30,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel per year. The retrofit cost £10 million to commission, £2.7 million of which was funded by DEFRA.
The plant is sited at Forest Road, Newport.
cleaning system of the old incinerator was reused in the retrofit, and ENER·G reported this system to be the cause of the problem. Following modifications and several startup attempts, it has been operating again since October 2010.
In June 2011, the Isle of Wight council decided to make radical efforts to lessen its dependence on the gasification facility with reference to its history of limited reliability .
and is, thus, not able to produce syngas for external use. It is, therefore, sometimes categorized as two-stage combustion. It has a low energy-efficiency compared to modern waste incinerators
.
The Isle of Wight plant debuts a new furnace design for the Energos process aimed at increased combustion efficiency, dust removal and enabling less interruptions and downtime than the earlier design
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It entered the commissioning phase in autumn 2008. Operation has been suspended by the authorities since May 2010 due to elevated dioxin
Dioxin
Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins , or simply dioxins, are a group of organic polyhalogenated compounds that are significant environmental pollutants. They are commonly but inaccurately referred to as dioxins for simplicity, because every PCDD molecule contains a dioxin skeletal structure as the...
emissions.
The facility has been funded as part of Defra's New Technologies Demonstrator Programme
New Technologies Demonstrator Programme
The New Technologies Demonstrator Programme is a scheme part of Defra's Waste Implementation Programme, New Technologies Workstream, to demonstrate advanced waste processing technologies in England. A pot of £30million was allocated to fund 10 demonstrator projects with the project being headed by...
and is one of the first and only incinerators in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to be classed as a gasification system employed for the combustion of refuse derived fuel originating from municipal waste. The plant is operated by Waste Gas Technology UK Ltd, part of the ENER·G group, and utilises the Energos technology; Energos is also part of the ENER·G group. The Energos system was retrofitted into a small conventional incinerator plant and will combust an estimated 30,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel per year. The retrofit cost £10 million to commission, £2.7 million of which was funded by DEFRA.
The plant is sited at Forest Road, Newport.
Temporary suspension of operation, 2010
Due to increased dioxin emission levels detected in March 2010 exceeding 8 times the legal limit, operation was temporarily suspended spring 2010. The flue gasFlue gas
Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produced at power plants...
cleaning system of the old incinerator was reused in the retrofit, and ENER·G reported this system to be the cause of the problem. Following modifications and several startup attempts, it has been operating again since October 2010.
In June 2011, the Isle of Wight council decided to make radical efforts to lessen its dependence on the gasification facility with reference to its history of limited reliability .
Energos technology
The Energos system includes a close-coupled combustion stage consuming all of the syngasSyngas
Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal, biomass, and in some types of waste-to-energy...
and is, thus, not able to produce syngas for external use. It is, therefore, sometimes categorized as two-stage combustion. It has a low energy-efficiency compared to modern waste incinerators
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
.
The Isle of Wight plant debuts a new furnace design for the Energos process aimed at increased combustion efficiency, dust removal and enabling less interruptions and downtime than the earlier design
See also
- IncinerationIncinerationIncineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
- GasificationGasificationGasification is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures , without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam...
- Gasifier
- PyrolysisPyrolysisPyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures without the participation of oxygen. It involves the simultaneous change of chemical composition and physical phase, and is irreversible...
- Thermal treatmentThermal treatmentThermal treatment is a term given to any waste treatment technology that involves high temperatures in the processing of the waste feedstock. This commonly, although not exclusively involves the combustion of waste materials....