This 2022 assignment for Powerhouse Energy Plc focused on "Design and simulation of a novel gasifier for waste management" within the process and manufacturing sector. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and process modelling, the team translated the existing project brief into a structured technical assessment. The work was intended to show why the system behaved as it did, how performance changed across credible scenarios, and which interventions offered the strongest engineering value.

Powerhouse’s Thermal Conversion Chamber (TCC) is a proprietary gasification device for converting waste streams (e.g. non-recyclable plastics, tyres) into syngas. The aim of this project was to model in detail the internal processes of the TCC, optimise components, and develop a new outlet duct (deflector) at the point of syngas / char separation to improve performance and longevity. Our work included combustion modelling, multiphase flow (gas, syngas, char) heat transfer, and specifically the inclusion of rotating fins inside the chamber to aid mixing, heat transfer, and movement of char. Using CFD simulations, we examined temperature fields, flow paths, char deposition zones, and syngas trajectories. We then designed and optimised the outlet duct (deflector) to reduce blockages, improve separation, and maintain syngas quality and throughput. Powerhouse have since incorporated our recommended deflector duct as part of their patented TCC device. We worked with the client through all stages from initial modelling, design iteration, through to support for fabrication and ensuring that the simulation findings translated into an operational improvement.

The methodology centred on a reacting multiphase CFD and process model of the patented Thermal Conversion Chamber. The representation retained the combustion and gasification zones, rotating fins, char transport paths and the syngas-char outlet where separation and deposition controlled reliability. Boundary and operating conditions covered representative waste-derived feeds, operating conditions and alternative outlet or deflector geometries, with material, fluid and equipment properties assigned from the available design information. Resolution was concentrated in regions where steep velocity, thermal, concentration or phase gradients were expected, while the overall model remained efficient enough to compare several credible configurations. This balance allowed system-level performance to be linked to the local mechanisms responsible for it.

The assessment compared internal mixing and outlet-duct changes intended to improve syngas flow, char separation and component life. Performance was judged using temperature, reaction and flow paths, syngas trajectory, char deposition, mixing, pressure loss, throughput and blockage risk. Results were reviewed through quantitative summaries and engineering visualisations, such as contours, vectors, streamlines, sections and time histories, selected to suit the physics. Important assumptions and operating uncertainties were considered so that the recommendations relied on repeatable comparative trends rather than a single nominal case.

For Powerhouse Energy Plc, the principal value was an implemented deflector design and an end-to-end path from simulation through fabrication and operational use. The final evidence linked each recommendation to the relevant model or process output, making it suitable for internal design reviews, supplier or contractor discussions and, where applicable, planning, safety or regulatory dialogue. The work also created a reusable baseline that can be updated as geometry, operating data or test results become available, reducing the cost and risk of later design iterations.