Selected environmental aspects of gasification and co-gasification of various types of waste

The process of gasification of carbonaceous fuels is a technology with a long-standing practice. In recent years, the technology has been extensively developing to produce energy or chemicals on the basis of obtained gas. Studies focused on the improvement of the gasification process aims at developing the process by increasing environmental safety, the efficiency and the possibilities to utilize various types of alternative fuels (post-consumer waste, various types of biomass waste, by-products and post-process residues, sewage sludge) independently or by co-gasification with coal. The choice of the gas purification system, the process operating parameters and introducing the necessary modifications to the existing technologies are essential steps while processing these kinds of feedstock, with regard to their individual characteristics. This paper discusses selected environmental aspects of the gasification and co-gasification of municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, various types of biomass waste and post-process residues. Selected alternative fuels are also characterized, focusing on the influence of their presence in the feedstock in terms of production and the emission of polychlorinated organic compounds, tars, heavy metals and toxic elements.