Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of mixed plastic waste gasification for production of methanol and hydrogen

Abstract

Plastic waste management is an area of concern globally, given the accumulation of plastics in landfills and the natural environment. Gasification can convert mixed plastic waste (MPW) to synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2), which can be further converted to commodity chemicals. In this work, we present techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) for two gasification pathways that produce methanol and hydrogen from MPW feedstock. In particular, we modeled the gasifier as a dual fluidized bed reactor for MPW gasification in a greenfield, standalone facility. Our analysis indicates that the minimum selling price (MSP) of methanol and hydrogen produced by MPW gasification is $0.70 kg−1 and $3.41 kg−1, respectively. For comparison, we also evaluate the production of methanol and hydrogen from municipal solid waste. For MPW gasification processes, the syngas yield (kg syngas per kg plastic) and waste plastic feedstock price have the largest impact on MSP. Waste plastic feedstock prices of