Graphite electrode DC arc furnace system for treatment of environmentally undesirable solid waste

Summary form only given. A graphite electrode DC arc furnance system has been used to demonstrate that iron basalt soil containing various surrogate nonradioactive materials found on the Department of Energy´s atomic energy sites and hospital waste can be reduced to a compact, vitrified, solid material which is environmentally acceptable and will pass TCLP leachate tests. A second graphite electrode DC arc furnace system is presently under construction and will be in operation at MIT during the second quarter of 1993. This furnace system is designed for demonstration of waste treatment and stabilization at a rate of 500 pounds per hour and will also be used for development and performance evaluation of diagnostic techniques and equipment for measuring and understanding internal furnace temperature profiles, gas entrained particulate composition, and particulate size distribution of various locations in the furnace during operation.