Destruction of toxic organic chemicals
AssigneeUnited States Steel Corporation
InventorsRobert D. Bach, Christopher J. Nagel
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Abstract
Toxic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls and other organic wastes are destroyed by injecting them, together with oxygen, into a metal or slag bath such as is utilized in a steelmaking facility. The metal bath may be melted initially by induction or an electric arc; the desired temperature greater than 2500.degree. F. may be maintained thereafter by the reaction of the oxygen and the organic waste. Various by-products may be obtained from the gas.
Claims19
Method of pyrolytically and oxidatively destroying organic waste comprising (1) providing a molten bath of at least 10% iron in a furnace, (2) maintaining the molten metal fraction of said bath at a viscosity no greater than 10 centipoise, and (3) continuously and conjointly injecting oxygen and said organic waste in a stoichiometric ratio of oxygen to the oxidizable portion of said organic waste of at least 1:1 into or onto said bath to maintain an average residence time of said waste in said furnace of at least about one-half second.
Method of pyrolytically and oxidatively destroying organic waste containing significant amounts of chemically bound halogens comprising injecting said waste into a reaction zone comprising a molten bath of at least 10% iron at a temperature of at least about 2500.degree. F., said reaction zone contained in a reactor, the molten metal fraction of said bath having a viscosity no greater than 10 centipoise, and conjointly injecting oxygen in a stoichiometric relationship to the oxidizable portion of said waste to maintain an average residence time of said waste in said reactor of at least about one-half second, collecting gases evolving from said bath, and recovering hydrogen halide therefrom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.