Thermodynamic and economic analysis of a hydrogen production process from medical waste by plasma gasification

To reduce the environmental pollution caused by pathogens and radioactive substances carried by medical waste, and alleviate the shortage of non-renewable energy, this work proposes a novel overall process for hydrogen production from medical waste by plasma gasification coupled with ionic liquid-based CO2 capture. The validity of the model is verified by the experimental data. Based on the simulation results, the effects of medical waste types, different gasification agents and carbon conversion rate on the syngas compositions, H2/CO ratio, carbon conversion rate, higher heating value and exergy efficiency are explored. The results show that the rate of hydrogen production from surgical masks is more than twice that of the other two types of medical waste. Steam is the best gasification agent. At this time, the higher heating value of syngas is 26.72 MJ/kg and the exergy efficiency is 78.25%. A comprehensive analysis of the thermodynamic efficiency and technical economy of the overall process shows that the total exergy efficiency is 70.84%. The production cost is 2115.74 USD and the raw material consumption is 2.61 t/t H2. This study can provide a promising theoretical guidance for the resource treatment of medical waste.