Advanced Thermal Treatment

Advanced Thermal Treatment (ATT) technologies are primarily those that employ Pyrolysis and/or Gasification to process municipal solid waste (MSW) or biomass[1].

ATT excludes combustion processes used in ininceration - which is already a mature and well-established technology.

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Overview

Most commonly, energy is recovered through this process as the syngas produced from gasification or pyrolysis are combusted in a boiler, and the steam produced is used to generate electricity.

Alternatively, if the syngas undergoes processing, then chemical feedstocks or fuels can be produced from ATT plants[1].

ATT plants have varying configurations but will typically consist of the following key elements:

  • Waste reception, handling and pre-treatment;
  • Thermal treatment reactor;
  • Gas and residue treatment plant (optional);
  • Energy recovery plant (optional); and
  • Emissions clean-up[1].

References:

  1. DEFRA, 2013, Advanced Thermal Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste. London.