The thermal treatment of chemical wastes in plasma processes

Several advantages are claimed for the application of plasma technology to the high temperature treatment of materials. In particular, plasma systems may be compact, may operate with a high degree of independence of the chemical and physical nature of the input materials and of the intended chemistry of the process, and respond very rapidly to control. The perceived demand for the safe disposal of waste materials has encouraged examination of the application of plasma technology to the problem, particularly for the most hazardous wastes generated by industry. Here, some early results are described of work in which model chemicals simulating some of the more difficult waste compositions, were injected into a 50kW experimental plasma system