UpCyclingPowerPlant
A unique and environmentally friendly form of electric power generation!
Our UpCyclingPowerPlant is based on the worldwide patented and unique Duplex TEC-Process® (TEC - Turbulent Expansive Carbonbed).
The Duplex TEC-Process® converts carbon-containing waste into CO2-neutral electric power and heat in a closed multi-stage system, in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner by means of thermochemical recycling.
The Duplex TEC-Process® enables pollutant-free and highly efficient generation of electrical energy.
Thanks to its modular design in fuel gasification lines - Waste Gasification Line (WGL®) - the UpCycling power plant can be planned and realized in different performance classes.
Generating energy of approx. 2,7 MWh from one metric ton of organic waste
Worldwide patent protection: four main German patents, seven international patent applications. (DE/EP/US/JP/CN/HK/CA/RU)
The worldwide patented TEC Process
Fuel gas generation from non-recyclable waste in a completely closed and emission-free conversion system. (TEC Process)
Many years of research and development have led to an innovative technology, fuel gas production without the addition of external energy and without process-related flue gases, which is used in the WGL® plants of TCP Energies GmbH & Co. KG. The Duplex TEC-Process®, which is protected by international patents, avoids the known disadvantages of conventional pyrolysis, gasification or combustion technologies, such as the formation of undesirable by-products or the necessary use of expensive flue gas cleaning equipment.
Conversion of carbon to usable fuel gas > 99 %
A head start with our environmentally friendly technology
In the multi-stage Duplex TEC-Process® to clean fuel gas!
The waste gasification plants of the WGL® (Waste Gasification Line) plant series represent a worldwide unique technology for energy recovery from organic waste of all kinds.
Our solution enables the efficient conversion of feedstock into clean fuel gas. The integrated heat recovery characterizes the autothermal process
The fuel gas produced in the plant is used to drive generators via gas engines to produce electrical power. The electrical energy thus generated can be consumed on site or fed into the public grid.
- Apparatus separation of the individual main processes for optimum conditions
- High efficiencies
- Partial oxidation and reduction processes
Total thermal efficiency approx. 88 %
Functionality of the plants
The modular and redundant design of the WGL® systems with multiple production lines ensures continuous operation, even during maintenance or repair work.
The plants can be adapted to meet demand and thus take account of the increasing volume of waste and simultaneously growing energy requirements in municipalities and conurbations.
The residual materials are delivered by truck. A truck scale is used to record the mass of the delivered material before it is unloaded into the storage bunker. From here, a hopper crane is used to feed the coarse shredders. The respective downstream screening plant divides the product stream into coarse and fine fractions. The fine fraction is transported directly via a system of belt conveyors to the separators for ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, glass and minerals, which are used to discharge them. The product stream processed in this way is then conveyed to dryers in which hot air (residual heat from gas, electricity and oxygen generation) of approx. 80 - 100 °C is used to produce the residual moisture of approx. 10 - 15 Ma% required for the process.
The coarse fraction is fed to the fine shredder and then conveyed to a separate sorting line. Here, as with the fine fraction, the inorganic material is removed and dried.
The product streams from the dryers of a line are collected and conveyed to the respective assigned screening machine. The fraction with a particle size < 35 mm is the input material for the reactors, while the coarse fraction is returned to the fine shredder.
- Industrial waste
- Plastics, also PVC
- Waste tires, waste rubber
- Special waste
- Household waste
- Shredder light and heavy fractions, sorting residues
- Substitute fuels (RDF)
- Industrial and commercial waste
- Plastics and rubber
- Packaging waste,
- Composite materials (from paper, cardboard, plastics, wood)
- Textiles
- Waste containing bitumen and tar
- Biogenic waste, bark and wood waste
- Dried sludge from wastewater treatment
- Coal and coal dust
- Oils, greases and lubricants etc. in partial quantities
The waste conditioned in the treatment plant according to the specifications is fed to the reactors where the Duplex TEC-Process® process for fuel gas generation begins. This is characterized by processes of degassing and gasification of organic substances and the sequence of chemical reactions.
The thermal energy required for this is generated from part of the organic material inside the reactor and gasifier (autothermal process control). Preheated and oxygen-enriched ambient air is used as the reactive gasification agent.
In the closed pregasifier, the residual materials are heated to average temperatures of approx. 350-500 °C and transported through the various temperature zones of the reactor under defined parameters of temperature, oxygen supply, mixing, and heating and residence time. In the process, the organic compounds are converted to reaction products such as low-temperature tar, low-temperature coke and low-temperature carbonization gas, and the residual moisture is evaporated.
The carbon gas mixture (thermolysis cos, carbonization gases and tars) together with the water vapor from the reactor passes directly into the three-stage gasifier. Under controlled addition of a preheated gasification agent (oxygen-air mixture), an almost complete (> 99 %) thermal conversion of the carbon takes place in the last stage with a residence time of approx. 2-3 seconds, resulting in an energy-rich fuel gas which is drawn off in the upper part of the gasifier. Its essential components are chem. Compound. H2,CH4,H2O, and N2. The organic compounds are cracked and broken down into low-molecular components. The inert foreign substances (ash, metal residues, residues of mineral ingredients, etc.) with a higher density than the fluidized carbon mixture sink down and are discharged below the gasifier chamber.
The conditions prevailing in the process preclude the formation of organic pollutants such as dioxins and furans.
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The fuel gas is cooled and purified in a multi-stage process. For this purpose, it is passed through heat exchanger cyclone, waste heat boiler (heat exchanger), hot gas filter and gas scrubbing system.
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The heat given off by the fuel gas is transferred recuperatively to the gasification agent
The fuel gas is converted into electricity in gas engines with an efficiency ≥ 50%. The waste heat and exhaust gas heat of the gas engines are available for technological purposes.
Process steps
Unloading hall
transport approx. 6 - 8 trucks/day in Closed trailers high-calorific waste and unload them
Waste bunker
The waste is temporarily stored in the collection bunker before being sent to a high calorific value substitute fuel is processed further.
Conditioning of the waste/EBS
Mechanical crushing, drying, feeding to the pre-gasifier. Minerals, stones, glass, metals, etc. are sorted out.
Pre-carburetor (autothermal)
Thermal conditioning to Carbon coke. Transfer without interruption to the main carburetor.
Pre-carburetor (autothermal)
Multi-level gasification to a pollutant- and and tar-free calorific fuel gas. Discharge of the residues (eluate-free slag).
Gas treatment
Cooling and fine filtering of the fuel gas. ► Utilization of waste heat for the autothermal process control
Residual material recycling
The discharged compacted residues (dislodged (vitrified) slags) are separated and processed by a specialized Company further processed.
POWER GENERATION with CHP gas engine
The tar-free fuel gas produced by the Duplex TEC Process® is fed to gas engines and serves as an energy source to drive the engine for power generation.
Advantages of the Duplex TEC-Process®
| Ecological | Economic |
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High availability due to modular and redundant design
Efficient plants for your needs
We realize performances from 9 - 109 MWh/h
The aggregates of the waste gasification plants depend on the size of the Duplex TEC-Process® system and are designed with at least double redundancy.
Advantages of our Waste Gasification Lines (WGL):
- The TCP technology is base-load capable (power feed-in 24h for grid stability).
- Modular plant configuration depending on waste volume and composition
- Highly efficient process in the "waste to energy" sector
- Continuous high throughputs of approx. 3.3 t/h incl. 10 Ma% H2O (per thermal line)
- Closed multistage process solution with process coupling of pregasifier and main gasifier in the thermal range
- Use of oxygen-enriched gasification agents for consistently high mass transfer rates
- Direct power generation in modified high-efficiency gas engines with high electrical efficiencies (cold gas efficiency >88%; gas engine efficiency >50%)
- Base load capability of electricity supply
- Island solution and black start capability
- Patented and proprietary technology
- Testing at 1:1 scale (without scaling risk)
- Low power generation costs
- CO2 neutral balance (substitution)
- Compliance with all applicable regulations and directives (Germany & European Union)
- WGL BEST GERMAN TECHNOLOGY® - with TÜV certificate
Residual material conditioning
Processing of the delivered waste
Sorting, conditioning, drying
Fully or partially automated
Examples of possible plant sizes and their essential characteristics:
(Data apply to an average calorific value of the processed waste of approx. 20 MJ/kg).
| Fuel gas system | Number of fuel gas lines | Throughput approx. [t/a]* |
Generator power approx. [MWh/h]** |
|---|---|---|---|
| WGL® 1 – 25 | 1 | 25.000 | 8,9 |
| WGL® 2 – 50 | 2 | 50.000 | 17,8 |
| WGL® 4 – 100 | 4 | 100.000 | 35,6 |
| WGL® 8 – 200 | 8 | 200.000 | 71,2 |
| WGL® 12 – 300 | 12 | 300.000 | 106,7 |
(approximate data depending on waste composition)
*) Possible total amount of throughput of processed and dried waste of all WGL.®- Lines in a waste gasification plant
**) Possible total power (grid feed-in) of all installed generators of a system.
Operation of the power generation plant
The exhaust gas stream from the gas engines is passed through a waste heat boiler (heat exchanger). The usable residual heat can be fed into the drying process of the delivered waste.
Downstream of the engines are so-called ORC units, which use the waste heat from the gas engines to generate additional electricity according to the principle of the Organic Rankine Cycle, a closed process cycle. In this process, the working medium is vaporized using the waste heat, which has a lower boiling point than, for example, water to reach the vapor phase. The resulting steam drives small turbines equipped with generators - the electricity generated is now available to internal consumers or for feeding into the grid. The working medium then condenses again, closing the cycle of liquid and vapor phases.
High availability due to modular and redundant design
Profit - profitability considerations
The average price of electricity in German households is rising (see chart). In addition, our society is facing further general and financial challenges with climate change and the necessary energy turnaround. We are addressing both of these problems with the Duplex TEC Process® of our upcycling power plants for the best profit.
Development of the German household electricity price
Source: BNetzA monitoring reports 2010 - 2022
Briefly summarized:
- A decade of research and development in a pilot and pre-series plant
- Latest technical generation for highly efficient autothermal waste treatment and transformation into energy.
- Generation of 2.7 MW of electricity from one ton of high-calorific residual materials. (Energy content of the feedstocks on average approx. 22.8 MJ/kg.)
- A decade of research and development in a pilot and pre-series plant
- Certified and approved as an industrially usable series plant
Market economy view
Acceptance of residual materials
Calculation per ton of starting material
Real price, e.g. plastic waste 350 €/t.
Payback period
Substitution of CO2
per ton (government guarantees, approx. minimum price from 2025)
Comparison calorific values
The substances with the highest calorific value (in MJ/kg) include:
Natural gas
Car tires
Styrofoam/Styrodur
Plastic/
Packaging waste
Rubber/Leather
Textiles
An UpCyclingPower plant WGL 2-50 generates electricity for a small town with over 20,000 inhabitants*.
* this value was calculated theoretically
Comparison investment costs
Power Plant in Brand (WGL 2-50)
approx. 350,000 €/GWh
An offshore plant with 8 - 9 wind turbines
approx. 700,000 €/GWh
Only 50% investment costs compared to an offshore wind farm
Comparison of electricity production costs
Status 2020
"The construction, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind turbines are associated with adverse impacts to marine mammals, birds, fish, and seafloor (benthic) communities."
– NABU
