Environmental analysis of an innovative system based on Municipal Solid Waste pyrolysis and combined cycle

This paper presents the environmental impact analysis of an innovative system based on the pyrolysis of MSW which produces solid (char), liquid (tar) and gas (syngas) fuels used in a combined cycle for electric power generation. The syngas, after filtration and compression, feeds two gas turbines. In turn, the exhaust from the gas turbines, after post-combustion with char and tar, drives a steam turbine power plant. The flue gas, before discharge, is processed in a SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) unit to reduce CO, VOC and NOx content and filtered to remove particulate matter. This innovative approach to energy recovery from MSW reconciles high energy efficiency with low polluting emissions. The environmental analysis includes the study of the polluting emissions and the simulation of their concentration in the area surrounding the plant in order to evaluate the potential environmental benefits compared to a traditional, oil or coal burning, power plant.