Canadian fuel cell company Ballard Power Systems is partnering with GS Platech in South Korea to demonstrate waste-to-energy power generation using fuel cell technology with hydrogen produced from processing of municipal solid waste.
The GS Platech pilot plant in Cheongsong is capable of treating five tonnes of organic solid waste per day using plasma gasification technology, producing sufficient high-purity hydrogen to generate 50 kW of clean power. Ballard will supply a PEM fuel cell generator that will be fueled by this hydrogen, based on its Dantherm Power DBX5000 fuel cell technology.
‘While conventional waste combustion – such as garbage incineration – can lead to the discharge of carcinogenic pollutants, our technology drastically reduces emissions,’ says Young Suk Kim, Vice-President of GS Platech, a subsidiary of GS Caltex, one of South Korea’s largest petroleum refiners.
This will be the first demonstration of a waste-to-energy solution that combines these technologies. If the demonstration of the solution is successful, GS Platech intends to promote it to new customers worldwide.
The treatment of municipal solid waste is a growing problem in many nations, including Asia-Pacific countries with particularly high population densities such as China, India, Korea, Japan, and Singapore. This solution can potentially allow municipalities to address two key environmental issues in tandem – environmentally responsible waste treatment and clean power production.
This project is receiving financial support from the Government of Canada through its Department of the Environment, in the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
