waste to energy gasification founded 2004 founder william davis headquarters boston massachusetts usa key people walt howard ceo mark prendergast cfo number of employees 28 2009 website www.ze gen.com ze gen inc. is a renewable energy company developing advanced gasification technology to convert waste into synthesis gas . founded in 2004 ze gen is a venture backed company based in boston massachusetts . the company aims to develop innovative technological solutions to reduce landfills and find beneficial use for waste material by converting waste to energy and nutrients using advanced gasification in a way that reduces environmental degradation . contents 1 technology 2 pilot facility 3 commercial facility 4 funding 5 competitors 6 see also 7 notes and references 8 external links 8.1 news technology edit the liquid metal gasification process begins with feed material entering the gasifier through a gas tight airlock into a refractory lined vessel containing liquid copper which is held at about 2200 f. material entering into the liquid metal gasifier undergoes a series of thermo chemical reactions which are auto thermal under stable operating conditions . initially pyrolysis occurs and volatiles are driven into the headspace of the gasifier . in the subsequent gasification reaction hydrogen h 2 and carbon monoxide co are favored as final products along with carbon dioxide co2 and a small amount of methane ch 4 . this product gas is called synthesis gas also known as syngas . the inorganic constituents which are generally lighter than liquid metal form a slag layer on top of the liquid metal bath and are removed as a vitrified non leachable slag byproduct . the slag is either recycled or disposed of as an industrial by product . while some metals and oxides present in the feedstock accumulate in the liquid metal bath others will exit as vapor and are captured in the gas cleanup process . the syngas produced can be used for several different end use applications including steam generation electricity production making industrial hydrogen gas as chemical building blocks for synthetic diesel or ethanol synthetic natural gas methanol or as a chemical feedstock into a variety of industrial processes . pilot facility edit ze gen s demonstration facility is colocated with a processing facility owned by new bedford waste services llc in new bedford massachusetts . 1 the facility was built to test the key parameters of the gasification process in order to more fully understand the chemistry of the system and the operating parameters . the plant became operational in november 2007 and ze gen achieved target synthesis gas quality in june 2008 . 2 the data and analysis collected during the phase i testing helped to inform modifications and upgrades in the facility . phase ii testing began in september 2009 . as of june 2011 the demonstration facility has logged over 4200 hours of operation including 30 days of consecutive runtime . 3 commercial facility edit ze gen plans to develop its first commercial facility in attleboro massachusetts . 4 the proposed facility is to be located within the attleboro corporate campus a former texas instruments manufacturing facility and now the home to a number of businesses . through the conversion of 44 000 tons of specific waste streams annually the syngas produced at the facility will be used to generate approximately 7mw of alternative energy . the thermal and electrical power will be sold to tenants within the corporate campus allowing the campus to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels . 5 in april 2011 ze gen announced its decision to suspend its project in attleboro in order to focus on developing its commercial facility project at a site with stronger energy markets and one that s more receptive to alternative energy development . 6 funding edit as of 2009 ze gen has received 30 million in funding from sources including omar zawawi establishment flagship ventures vantagepoint venture partners and massachusetts technology development corporation . 7 competitors edit the traditional waste handling sectors such as landfills and waste to energy facilities compete with ze gen facilities for carbon rich waste streams . other gasification competitors include alternrg in alberta canada energy products of idaho epi in coeur d alene idaho usa rentech silvagas in los angeles california diversified energy 1 in carefree arizona see also edit gasification fischer tropsch syngas landfills notes and references edit ze gen opens 9.8 m n.b. facility secures 4.5 m in series a funding . the new england business bulletin . 2007 06 08 . retrieved 2009 09 17 . ze gen reports consistent high quality syngas production . biomass magazine . 2008 06 27 . retrieved 2009 08 17 . new bedford plant uses molten metal to turn waste into fuel . southcoasttoday.com . 2011 06 03 . retrieved 2011 06 07 . ze gen gasification facility to power industrial park . environmental leader . 2010 09 27 . retrieved 2011 01 06 . ze gen files paperwork for commercial waste to energy plant in attleboro . boston globe . 2010 05 05 . retrieved 2011 01 07 . ze gen drops plans . the sun chronicle . 2011 05 25 . retrieved 2011 06 07 . http www.newenergyworldnetwork.com renewable energy news by technology energy efficiency ze gen raises 20m in series b financing.html external links edit official website company blog discovery channel feature news edit ze gen energized by middle east conglomerate a special report on waste the appliance of science betting on a hot market for syngas energy firm may buzz into attleboro howard named ceo at ze gen retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ze gen & oldid 699290305 categories energy companies of the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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