Commercial waste treatment with hot plasma
The project's conceptual design, using plasma to treat hazardous organic and inorganic waste materials, provides potential investors with information on plant design, process economics and their interdependence with changing waste throughput. It includes detailed diagrams on piping, instrumentation and process flow, contains thermal and thermodynamic calculations and provides for a detailed description of the necessary equipment. In treating waste, the plasma-based commercial waste treatment plant also produces a solid by-product and a synthetic, heated gas. The composition of the solid by-product can be adjusted for use as a basis for ceramic materials, while the hot gas can be used to heat water, produce steam, or for electrical power generation. These by-products thus bring additional commercial benefits to the plant. The economic analysis conducted by the project shows that for treatment of 500 to 2500 kilograms of waste per hour, the cost varies from EUR 150 to 350 per tonne, depending on the plant size and the sale or use of the by-products. With very low throughputs the capital and labour costs dominate, while the higher the throughputs, the lower the costs. In general, the project found this plasma-based waste treatment to be competitive with alternative waste disposal methods. To develop the project's results further, the team are seeking investors in the utilisation of hazardous waste streams, plasma treatment methods and building materials production.
