Orchid

A process concept for producing a fuel from MSW

This review is a fully comprehensive assessment of the process, including a detailed appraisal of their semi-commercial demonstration trial.

The Orchid technology utilises a novel process concept for processing municipal waste. This has attracted considerable interest since it may have the potential to offer some significant advantages over alternatives such as incineration and some types of MBT. Moreover, the Orchid process offers some unique features which single it out from other MHT processes. These key attributes are assessed in the report. This independent review can help you to assess whether this process is a contender for your specific application and whether or not you might decide to include it on a shortlist.

The company claim that they can produce a wide range of products, some qualifying for premium prices as renewable fuels. The report assesses how justified these claims are.

One of the key conclusions from our analysis is that this process may be of interest for processing the types of highly putrescible wastes that are often typical of tropical countries.

Examples of specific potential issues identified and discussed within the report include:

• Can the process operate as a stand-alone solution or does it need to be used in conjunction with other technologies
• How marketable are the products from the process and can they command a price from users
  

It also reports on the concept being promoted by Orchid of integrating their MHT technology with an on-site gasifier and discusses the positive and negative features of such an approach.

Table of Contents

Overview

Historical Development and Business Focus

Commercial Status

The Process Concept
Key process elements

Process Performance
Mass and energy balance
Operating performance
Fuel quality
Combustion trials
Recyclables recovered from the process

Environmental Performance
Emissions and effluents
Odours, noise and dust
Visual impacts
Carbon balance

How certain are the markets for the outputs?
Economics
Integrating the Orchid Process with a Gasifier
Juniper's Opinion
Unresolved issues and gaps in information
Key advantages and disadvantages

Published: 13th August, 2007
Price:   180 UK pounds
Number of pages: 39
Format: downloadable pdf.