LIVING GREEN
ENERGY
TRASH BEGONE
St. Lucie County will become the first in the
nation to build a system that vaporizes trash
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and converts it to electricity
BY SUSAN BURGESS
It’s been called a trash-zapper, a plasma-arc gasification
system, and a sci-fi ray gun vaporizer straight out of the
old TV programs from 60 years ago — and it’s coming to
a landfill near you.
In three years St. Lucie County will be the first in the nation
to get rid of trash destined for its landfill by vaporizing
it, turning it into electricity and then selling the electricity
to the power company. In one swoop the county will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and create enough electricity to
power 14,000 homes, steam to be sold to nearby plants, and a
recyclable slag that can be cut into paving blocks.
HOW HOT IS THAT?
The plasma arc torch that will vaporize garbage will do its
work at a scorching 10,000 degrees.
The resultant “syn-gas” will create steam to turn a turbine
that turns a generator that creates electricity. The little that
won’t vaporize will drop to the bottom as slag that can be cut
and recycled into paving blocks and other products.
Of the 24 megawatts of electricity it will produce each day,
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An aerial view of the St. Lucie County Landfill on Glades Cutoff Road shows in red where the new trash-to-electricity plant will be. Some details may
change before the plant is built. It is expected to open for business around March of 2013.