This publication presents an assessment of the economic efficiency of a hypothetical installation for the gasification of the municipal and industrial waste for the production of syngas used subsequently for the production of energy or chemical products. The first part of the work presents an example of a technological system for the energo-chemical processing of coal mud and municipal waste, based on the gasification process using a fluidized bed reactor. A hypothetical installation consists of two main blocks: a fuel preparation unit and a gasification unit. In the fuel preparation installation, reception operations take place, storage, and then grinding, mixing, drying and transporting fuel to the gasification unit. In the gasification installation, fuel gasification, oxygen production, cooling and purification of raw process gas and ash treatment are carried out. The following key assumptions regarding the gasification process, as well as the capital expenditures and operating costs related to the process, were estimated. Consequently, based on the method of discounted cash flows, the unit cost of generating energy contained in the synthesis gas (cost of energy, COE) was determined and the results were interpreted. In order to obtain an acceptable efficiency of the gasification process for waste fuels for the production of alternative fuel (process gas), it is necessary to supplement the mixture of waste coal and coal mud with the RDF. In this case, the unit cost of fuel measured by the PLN/GJ index is lower than in the case of hard coal and comparable with brown coal. The use of coal mud for the production of process gas in an economically efficient way is possible only in the case of changes in the legal system allowing for charging fees for the utilization of industrial waste – coal mud.

In this study the current legal and market conditions of waste management in Poland are analyzed. The main legal basis for changes in the national municipal waste management system and their impact on the market situation in the last few years have been determined. Additionally, the important function of the selective collection and the key role of the separation of raw material fractions in waste sorting plants constituting the basis for the operation of Regional Municipal Waste Processing (RMWP) plants was underlined. Furthermore, the possibilities of developing electricity production technology in low and medium power modules using waste gasification techniques were emphasized. The stream of plastic mixture from municipal waste sorting was identified as problematic in the context of effective material recovery. Tests were conducted on the morphology of this waste stream from two sorting plants. In line with the literature data and as part of the analytical work, the properties of the plastic waste stream designated for recycling and the energy properties of the post-recycling plastic mixture were estimated. Tests results showed that the calorific value of this mixture reached 31.8 MJ/kg, whereas, ash and chlorine content equaled 2.7% and 1.1% of dry mass, respectively. These parameters indicate that the mixture as a high-calorific fuel component may be a valuable addition to refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced from the over-sieve fraction of municipal waste. Concurrently, as a result of the development of waste gasification technologies with a high share of electricity production in low-medium power range plants, it is possible to integrate them with plastic recycling and RMWP plants in the Polish national waste management system.

The introduction highlights the technologies of converting the chemical energy of biomass and municipal waste into various forms of final energy (electricity, heat, cooling, new fuels) as important in the pursuit of a low-carbon economy, especially for energy and transport sector. The work continues to focus mainly on gasification as a process of energy valorization of the initial form of biomass or waste, which does not imply that other methods of biomass energy use are not considered or used. Furthermore, the article presents a general technological flowchart of gasification with a gas purification process developed by Investeko S.A. in the framework of Lifecogeneration.pl. In addition, selected properties of the municipal waste residual fraction are described, which are of key importance when selecting the technology for its energy recovery. Significant quality parameters were identified, which have a significant impact on the production and quality of syngas, hydrogen production and electricity generation capacity in SOFC cells. On the basis of the research on the waste stream, a preliminary qualitative assessment was made in the context of the possibility of using the waste gasification technology, syngas production with a significant share of hydrogen and in combination with the technology of energy production in oxide-ceramic SOFC cells. The article presents configurations of energy systems with a fuel cell, with particular emphasis on oxide fuel cells and their integration with waste gasification process. An important part of the content of the article is also the environmental protection requirements for the proposed solution.

This paper presents the results of modeling and analysis of hybrid generation system (HSW). The system contains municipal waste gasification installation, photovoltaic (PV) system and wind farm. The system cooperates with the power system to provide electrical energy to the communal consumer. The consumer is characterized by a maximum power demand equal to 10 MW and an annual energy demand of 42.351 GWh. Generation with renewable sources was modelled using meteorological data. Moreover, in order to cover the demand with the level of generation, gas storage was used. Next, the three-stage gasification model is presented. It was validated, using the literature data, and its efficiency and gas composition have been calculated and are presented. Furthermore, energetic and economic analysis have been conducted. Installed power usage factor and efficiency of energy sources were calculated. Gross and net energy generation of hybrid generation systems have been computed and are presented. In this analysis, energy consumption by gas compressing was included. The analyzed HSW covered 54.5% of the demand. Most of this (30.2%) was covered by the gasification system. However, the system was characterized by a low net efficiency equal to 16.7%. Diagrams of power generation in each source and storage fill chart are presented. In the economic part of the analysis, results of calculations of net present value and payback period are published in order to examine the profitability of the system.
The cost of electricity was 490–1050 PLN/MWh. The results show that municipal waste gasification can be used as a part of HSW to adjust the generation with the demand. Moreover, it can be economically advantageous. However, it is characterized by high CO ₂ emission and low efficiency of the waste processing system.