An Assessment of the Power Generated With Plasma Processing of Sludge From Wastewater Treatment Plants

This paper is an assessment of a power that is generated with plasma processing of sludge from wastewater treatment plants. Besides fusion, the generation of electrical power is one of the novel and more relevant applications of plasma. The magmavication or vitrification, the gasification or synthesis gas production, and the generation of electrical power are briefly reviewed. The environmental advantage of plasma processing of waste over incineration is clearly demonstrated. A review of the present technology of plasma arcs and modern plasma torch applications is also shown. In addition, an assessment of the potential use of plasma torches to processing sludge from wastewater treatment plants as a fuel is presented. Using Puerto Rico (USA) as an example, 30 MW of electrical power could be generated, which is enough energy for 22500 family homes. Finally, an estimation of the energy content in the sludge is presented. A plasma processing facility that is comprised of several interrelated systems will do all of the above.