Project J

Machine Incinerator Upgrade 

Project Overview 

Project J was launched to develop a pioneering incineration process capable of converting household waste into energy without producing harmful emissions. This initiative aimed to overcome the major drawbacks of conventional waste incineration, which is typically expensive, energy-intensive, and environmentally damaging. 

Motivation for Innovation

Without our engineering, this company would have been forced to rely on traditional incineration or landfill disposal—both increasingly restricted by environmental legislation and unsustainable at scale. The goal was to engineer a self-sustaining waste-to-energy system suitable for deployment in urban centres across the UK, providing a cleaner, scalable solution for municipal waste management. 

Technological Objectives 

The project aimed to advance the field of waste-to-energy processing by developing: 

• A high-temperature incineration system capable of generating synthetic gas (syngas) 
• A fully integrated suite of safety instrumentation and industrial control systems 
• A novel plant configuration capable of producing energy autonomously 

This required innovation in both chemical-process engineering and industrial automation. 

Limitations of Existing Technology 

Before this project: 

• Incineration plants relied on combustion processes that required external energy inputs 
• Emissions were high and required expensive pollution control technology 
• Standard safety systems were suited only to traditional plant layouts 
• No known plant could incinerate household waste at temperatures high enough to produce syngas without secondary emissions 
• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had never assessed such a configuration, confirming a lack of technological precedent. 

Existing waste-to-energy plants produced insufficient heat for syngas formation, and their control systems were incompatible with the proposed process. This made it necessary to design new systems from first principles.

Health & Safety Challenges

Generating gas in extreme-temperature environments presents significant safety hazards. 
Developing safe, stable, and SIL-rated control systems required extensive research, testing, and validation to ensure reliable operation under all plant conditions.

Key Technological Uncertainties

The project addressed several critical unknowns that could not be resolved through standard engineering practices:

1. High-Temperature Syngas Production

Determining whether household waste could be incinerated at temperatures sufficient to produce syngas without generating harmful emissions.

2. Process Safety System Design

Engineering a safety system capable of managing fluctuating gas levels, pressures, and outputs throughout dynamic plant operations.

3. SIL-Rated Instrumentation Integration

Ensuring that safety equipment, sensors, and fail-safe mechanisms could be integrated and validated to the required Safety Integrity Level (SIL) standards.

4. Advanced Control System Software

Developing software able to manage incompatible and rapidly changing process parameters—such as transitions between heating and cooling cycles—in real time, while maintaining strict safety boundaries.

5. Achieving Early Self-Sustaining Operation

Ensuring the plant could generate enough energy early in its operational cycle to power itself without external energy input.