3-E analysis of plasma gasification combined cycle integrated molten carbonate fuel cell for power production based on refused derived fuel feedstock

Solid waste management is serious yet often overlooked, possibly due to the challenges it possesses worldwide. It is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane, contributing to nearly half of global warming. Therefore, enhanced technologies have to be adopted that utilize the waste efficiently and recover valuable resources to safely dispose of waste and reduce environmental impact. This work focuses on using plasma gasification for clean syngas production and employing it for power production through the application of combined cycle i.e., gas and steam turbine (IPGCC) and molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) is chosen as the feedstock for simulation using a thermodynamic model developed in Aspen Plus software. Steam is used as plasma gas at 4000 °C and oxygen as additional gas for gasification. The splitting ratios of syngas (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25) to IPGCC and MCFC based on the 3-E analysis (energy, exergy and economic) are studied to evaluate the performance of the system. It was observed that the plasma gasification could convert the RDF fuel into simpler compounds of H2 and CO of >90 % among the syngas composition. Further, the maximum energy efficiency of 42.78% and exergy efficiency of 40.65% with carbon capture were found to be for a 25:75 [IPGCC: MCFC] ratio. While the economic assessment resulted in levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) values between 110-114 $/MWh considering all the cases. Therefore, the 3-E analysis reported that IPGCC systems integrated with MCFC unit using RDF has the potential for producing good calorific value syngas, high power generation and a safe ecosystem.