Breaking down waste on a molecular level, reactor technology is destined to become a game-changer for the waste management and recycling industry.
By Benjamin Hearst
Reactor technology has been developed to eliminate waste with 100 percent diversion of plastics of all types including PFAS, tires, and biomass waste streams. While doing this, it can create renewable fuels, carbon sequestering critical minerals, nanomaterials, and large-scale carbon capturing. These reactors are safe for the environment and completely recycle most materials without sorting or emissions. Even difficult industrial waste and municipal solid waste (MSW) can be handled effectively by reactor technology.
How Does Reactor Technology Work?
Reactor technology breaks down waste on a molecular level. Molecular debonding is a process where selectively cut bonds occur on larger molecules, thus making new smaller molecules, and releasing them from the molecular assemblies to which they were formerly attached.
This is accomplished with industrial multiphase microwave reactors, with both thermal and non-thermal microwave plasma reactors. Systems can be self-powered using a gas turbine generator with a microwave plasma reactor that converts the exhaust gasses for a zero-emissions and zero-waste process.
A mass converter at the heart of the reactor system uses advanced technology to convert the mass and energy of waste into reusable high-quality materials. It does so by breaking down the molecular and atomic structure of the waste, sorting the materials at the molecular and atomic level, and restoring them into usable forms.
Atmospheric carbon capture is the process of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into a form that can be safely stored or used in other processes. The gas turbine generators that power the reactor systems do this.
Reactor technology requires no sorting, and creates no combustion of waste, or emissions from processing. Systems can handle almost any type of waste, including large package formats, bales, whole tires, and sludge. Live munitions or radioactive waste are the only two items that reactors cannot successfully process.
These systems can also handle excess industrial biomass, forestry waste, and agricultural plastics and can take almost everything that needs disposal without sorting, incineration, or landfilling of waste. Here is how the technology works in five stages:
- Stage 1—Multiphase microwave reactors disintegrate materials into vapors and base solids.
- Stage 2—Multiphase generators drive up to 1MW of directed microwave energy (per reactor) tuned to the resonant frequencies of the materials.
- Stage 3—Materials condensing and collection, up to 16 discrete material streams.
- Stage 4—Gaseous and liquid fuel collection for energy generation and sales.
- Stage 5—Zero-emissions gas turbine generator providing for all system power, atmospheric carbon capture, and exhaust gas carbon capture.
Reactor systems can be rapidly deployed in a modular fashion, so industry and municipalities can pivot to this technology quickly and incrementally. The modular systems can be deployed as a strategic and tactical alternative to current waste recycling, incineration, or composting processes without the regulatory bottlenecks required for full manufacturing operations. For this reason, deployment can be fast, efficient, and at lower cost.
Reactor technology can be stand-alone or co-located with waste handling facilities, recycling centers, transfer centers, landfills, or any waste producing location. Ancillary services that can accompany reactor technology include shredding, stationary and mobile baling, wrapping, serializing, tracking, loading, and containers for shipping and logistics.
Reactor Technology Deployment
The smallest modular reactors process 300 tons per day or 109,500 annual tons of municipal solid waste. Waste feed sources could be all types of plastic wastes including PVCs, tires of all shapes and sizes, which require no pre-treatment or processing, industrial and hazardous materials. Reactor systems can handle the daily volume that is optimal for the area to create 100 percent diversion and can be expanded as necessary to address legacy waste of landfills, commercial, or hazardous waste.
Locating a deployment near a landfill will allow the system to simultaneously process legacy landfill waste. They are designed to augment current waste management processes and are perfect for eliminating contaminated recycling, waste byproducts from incineration, landfill overfills, leachate, and landfill mining.
Since the outputs include large volumes of renewable raw materials, this creates tremendous opportunities for manufacturing companies, shipping and logistics companies, and the local economy. Reactor technology may accelerate a lot of the current planning and affect current programs and sunk costs.
Benefits of Using Reactor Technology for Waste Management
Following are the list of the benefits that municipalities and the waste industry can receive from reactor technologies.
Eliminating Environmental Risks
Traditional methods of waste disposal like landfills and incineration produce harmful emissions and can be harmful to the environment. With reactor technology, waste is processed using advanced technology that emits no harmful pollutants, ensuring that the environment is protected. PFAS is eliminated too.
Eliminating Financial Risks
Without the ability to guarantee long-term sustainable waste management, municipalities and waste management companies risk losing business and incurring fines for non-compliance with environmental regulations. With reactor technology, industry and municipalities have the ability to eliminate waste at zero-cost while avoiding the financial risks of non-compliance, as well as the ongoing financial burden of increasing trash management needs.
Eliminating Health Risks
Exposure to harmful pollutants and toxins from waste can lead to severe health risks, including respiratory problems and cancer. Reactor technology provides a safe and healthy environment for both workers and the community.
Eliminating Reputation Risks
In today’s socially conscious environment, businesses and governments alike must be careful to maintain a positive reputation. By adopting reactor technology, municipalities and waste management companies can be seen as forward-thinking and responsible, which can boost their reputation and public perception.
The political benefits include meeting and exceeding the circular economy and zero-waste goals set by local and national governments, increased ability to meet and exceed environmental regulations and targets, and positive public relations associated with being a leader in waste management innovation and sustainability. It also produces high paying jobs and industries around the downstream use and applications of the raw material outputs.
A Game-Changer
Reactor technology is destined to become a game-changer for the waste management and recycling industry. High-quality base materials are converted from waste while creating a sustainable and circular economy that benefits the environment, the economy, and society. | WA
Materials that Have Been Processed Using Reactor Technology
• Sorted and unsorted MSW
• Multiple different glass-fiber composites, including wind-turbine blades and insulation panels
• Roof shingles
• Car-shredder residues
• Carbon-fiber composites
• Paint waste
• Seats
• Different foams
• Mixed plastics
• PET
• Tires
• Bio & medical waste
•Rubbers (including silicon rubber, natural rubber)
• Multiple different polystyrene waste streams (including panels)
• PMMA
• EPS
• Biomass (including wood and hemp)
• Labels and films
• All flooring categories including vinyl floorings, foam bases, polystyrene based and glass fiber-based insulation panels, paint waste, cables, pipes
Benjamin Hearst is Director of Marketing for H5O Environmental. He educates governance and waste industry stakeholders about advanced reactor technology. Benjamin can be reached at (504) 915-1914 or e-mail [email protected].