Reaction Engineering Alternatives to Waste Gasification for Sustainability

Waste management alternatives for ground base applications, such as municipal waste management, are under consideration.  One such alternative is the use of Wet Thermal Catalytic Oxidation (WTCO) processes.  These processes promote the conversion of long polymeric chains into synthetic or “supply” gas (syngas) at temperatures lower than those required by more traditional gasification technologies. The main goal of this project is the characterization of reaction pathways as waste management and sustainable energy alternatives for waste management applications. The project is motivated by the need to develop low-cost technologies as environmentally-friendly alternatives for converting waste materials into high-value products. The completion of the study is anticipated to lay out the foundation for scaling-up the technology to a continuous process.