Tokyo--Toshiba Corporation today announced a technology collaboration agreement with a leading German environmental technology company, PKA Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG (PKA), which gives Toshiba exclusive rights to market waste processing plants in Japan based on PKA's technology.

PKA is renowned for its advanced expertise in environmental protection technologies, particularly its proprietary waste-processing technology.

The PKA technology-based pyrolysis and gasification system can treat diverse household and industrial waste, including shredded cars, tires, plastic waste, and contaminated soil. The waste is processed into useable products, among them clean combustible gases, such as hydrogen and carbon-monoxide, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and carbon. Another advantage of the PKA system is that emissions of dioxins, NOx and SOx into the atmosphere are substantially lower than with conventional waste treatment systems. The overall system provides an environmentally-friendly and efficient solution for treating a wide range of waste, and recovering resources for reuse.

The plant will provide a core product for Toshiba's new business activities in waste treatment and recycling systems, complementing Toshiba's systems currently in the market, such as the plastic waste petrolizer and sewage control systems. The company will start marketing the new system in 1998, with a target of orders for ten plants in Japan by the end of 2000.

PKA's innovative pyrolisis and gasification technology minimizes generation of hazardous materials during processing. Verification testing in Germany has confirmed that the system offers an environmentally-friendly means to thermal decomposition of waste that minimizes the release of hazardous substances, including dioxins. PKA is now constructing commercial plants in Aalen and Freiberg, both in Germany, with more at the planning stage.

The system offers design and operating advantages: (1) a modular unit structure enables flexible plant design and modification to deal with different kinds of waste, such as household waste and industrial waste; (2) the treatment process reduces discharged dioxins levels to less than 0.1ng/Nm³, a level below Japanese and German requirements; (3) the combustible clean gas produced can be used for the power and heat supply of the plant itself, and any excess can be made available for direct delivery to external users; (4) reusable metals and carbon are recovered from the process.

Following separation and preparation, waste is fed into a rotary kiln that is externally heated to 500-600. The organic gas generated in the kiln is then lead to a cracker, a high temperature thermal decomposer, where dioxins are almost entirely destroyed and the organic gases are cracked into their light components. The gas is next transferred to a gas cleaning system, which removes chloride and sulfur, leaving a clean reusable gas. The metal residue from the kiln can be reused. The carbon residue can be used as a reduction material in furnaces, and also can be supplied to a gasification device to produce combustible gas, which is mixed with the pyrolysis clean gas.

Toshiba is committed to respecting the environment in all of its activities, and to the development of products and systems that contribute to environmental preservation and management. Towards this, the company set up an Environmental Management Business Group in April 1997, bringing together its diverse environment-related businesses. The new organization focuses on essentials - clean and safe water supply, improved air quality, reduced industrial waste and increased recycling. It markets recycling equipment and systems and offer comprehensive consulting services in these and other areas. The group also brings together the diverse capabilities of Toshiba's business groups in such areas as energy, biotechnology, information processing and sensors, to promote new systems and services.

Outline of PKA Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Process Flow Image of PKA Technology-Based Pyrolisis And Gasification System