Destruction of Hazardous Industrial Chemicals Using an Arcjet Plasma Torch*
Abstract
A small-scale thermal plasma torch has been used for the disposal of hazardous industrial chemicals including alcohols, ketones, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The plasma jet is operated at currents up to 200 Amperes and waste flow rates up to 600 ml/hr. Argon is used as the plasma gas with oxygen added to the reactor to alter the reaction chemistry. Destruction of the waste and by-product formation are monitored using a residual gas analyzer, and the temperature of the plasma plume is measured using an enthalpy probe. The by-products of the destruction of acetone are primarily carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and small amounts of hydrocarbons. Adding oxygen to the reactor increases the production of carbon dioxide and significantly decreases the amount of acetone in the exhaust gases. This reactor has achieved greater than 99 percent destruction efficiency for acetone when oxygen is added to the reaction mixture at an arcjet current of 75 Amperes, with similar destruction efficiencies observed for ethanol and trichloroethylene. *Supported by the U.S. DOE through the WERC program administered by New Mexico State University.
- Publication:
-
APS Annual Gaseous Electronics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 1996
- Bibcode:
- 1996APS..GEC.WPD03F