Vietnam mulls waste-to-energy project expansion

The technology converts waste into synthetic gas used as fuel to generate electricity. It uses unclassified solid wastes in an odorless and smokeless process that produces no wastewater or solid residue, saving the need to bury it.

According to Nguyen Gia Long, director of the Hydraulic Machine Company, the inventor and tester of the method, the technology is based on source technologies such as Seraphin, CDW, MBT CD-08 and MBT-GRE.

Long explained that input waste is cut into small pieces before it is forwarded into a conveyor belt. The MBT-GRE technology rapidly splits decomposed soft-tissue organic matter from the water contained in waste mixture (decomposable materials are the components of garbage that produce bad odors and attract insects). The soft tissue organic matter and water is then be automatically transferred down to a biogas pipeline to produce methane gas, while the remaining residue is dried. Once dry, it is pressed into plates and put into multi-fuel gasification furnaces to produce synthesis gas.

HMC successfully piloted the model on 208 tonnes of non-classified solid waste provided by the Ha Nam Urban Environment Company, generating sufficient power for the lighting system of the Dong Van 2 Industrial Park to run during 10 days. During the trial period, daily waste was fully treated and the transformation of unclassified solid wastes in the odorless and smokeless process produced no waste water or solid residue.

Besides Ha Nam, WTE was also tested at the Go Cat WTE Plant in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District. Since April 2017, when it became operational, Go Cat has treated 500 tonnes of industrial waste and generated seven megawatts for the national grid. The plant is operated by a system of pre-processed garbage equipment, such as primary and secondary cutting equipment, industrial garbage pressing equipment, gasification furnaces, synthesis gas containers, and three synthesis gas generators with a capacity of 550kVA each.

The results have generated authorities’ interest. If the technology is put into commercial production, it will contribute to resolving environmental problems in waste treatment and generating electricity.