Thermochemical conversion of solid wastes through gasification offers the
dual benefit of production of high-value fuels and environmentally friendly
waste disposal. In this paper, we propose a novel process for production of
liquified synthetic natural gas (SNG) from waste tires via a rotary kiln gasification process. We use a combination of experimental data available in the
open literature, first principles mathematical models and empirical models to
study three design cases (without CCS, with precombustion CCS and with
pre- and postcombustion CCS) in two locations (USA and Norway). The
thermodynamic, economic and environmental performance of the concept is
studied. The results show that minimum selling prices of 16.7, 17.5 and 19.9
$/GJ_LHV,SNG are required for USA and 20.9, 21.8 and 24.9 $/GJ_LHV,SNG
for Norway. We note that these prices may become competitive under certain
regulatory conditions (such as recent public policy movement in British
Columbia, Canada requiring public utilities to purchase natural gas made
from renewables at prices up to 30 $/GJ_LHV,SNG). The minimum selling
price reduces substantially with process scale and with levying tipping fees.
The design situated in Norway with both pre- and post-combustion CCS has
near zero direct and indirect CO2 emissions.