Sludge to Power
Dr. Igor Matveev, PhD

Dr. Igor Matveev, PhD, a former Soviet Union defense scientist. Dr. Matveev now lives and works in America pushing the envelope in the new field of Plasma Assisted Combustion (PAC).

PAC has the ability to inject any energy-containing feedstock, including waste products, into a high-energy plasma where they are chemically dissembled at extremely high temperatures and energies into syngas (mostly a blend of CO and H2).

The syngas can then be burned for heat, or piped into internal combustion engines, turbine engines, and solid oxide fuel cells to produce electricity and heat. Due to high thermal efficiency of the process, significant amount of excess energy could be released to generate extra power to be exported and make the project economically sound.

A successful prototype unit has already been delivered to Venezuela and is being used to destroy toxic chemicals. Dr. Matveev now proposes to adapt the same PAC technology to convert biosolids into syngas.

There are over 18,000 waste treatment plants in the United States. Each of them processes human and other waste in a series of steps that, in the end, result in a byproduct known as biosolids (sludge).

The same technology could be applied for processing manure from cows, pigs and chickens, following anaerobic digestion. These two processes combined in one fuel, power and heat production module could significantly improve economics of food production and make animal farm look like a surgery.

More over, sewage sludge can be blended with other waste liquids or solids with some heating value, as used motor and transformer oil, hydraulic liquids, oil from the bars and restaurants, grinded coal, glycerol to name a few. This will just help to increase the process efficiency, generate more power, and make your project more profitable.

Patent 7955567 and the Triple Vortex Plasma Assisted Combustor - PDF.

Thanks to Esa Ruoho for the through information he shared with us on this amazing 'new' technology. - JWD

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