Method and apparatus for making solid waste material environmentally safe using heat

A process for removing harmful constituents from non-combustible solid waste material, comprising the steps of:

• continuously feeding a particulate mix of solid waste material and a combustible excitation material for providing heat energy into a reaction chamber,
• reacting the mix in said chamber in the presence of oxygen until the solid waste material becomes a molten slag and the temperature within the chamber above the molten slag is high enough to destroy substantially all in the harmful constituents of the gaseous effluent released by the formation of the molten slag,
• conducting the gas and particulate effluent generated by the formation of the molten slag from the reaction chamber and, rapidly cooling the effluent to cause the particulate material to precipitate out of the effluent,
• treating the effluent to remove substantially all of the remaining particulate and harmful constituents to achieve acceptable environmental quality,
• and releasing the treated effluent into the atmosphere.

A process for removing harmful constituents from solid waste material, comprising the steps of:

• continuously feeding a particulate mix of solid waste material and a combustible excitation material for providing heat energy into a reaction chamber,
• reacting the mix in said chamber in the presence of oxygen until the solid waste material becomes a molten slag and the temperature within the chamber above the molten slag is at least 2,000.degree. F. to destroy substantially all of the harmful organic constituents in the gaseous effluent released by the formation of the molten slag,
• conducting the gas and particulate effluent generated by the formation of the molten slag from the reaction chamber and, rapidly cooling the effluent to cause the particulate material to precipitate out of the effluent,
• treating the effluent to remove substantially all of the remaining particulate and harmful constituents to achieve acceptable environmental quality,
• and releasing the treated effluent into the atmosphere.

A process for removing harmful constituents from a non-combustible solid waste material, comprising the steps of:

• continuously feeding a particulate mix of solid waste material and a combustible excitation material for providing heat energy into a reaction chamber,
• reacting the mix in said chamber in the presence of oxygen until the solid waste material becomes a molten slag and the temperature within the chamber above the molten slag is high enough to destroy substantially all in the harmful constituents of the gaseous effluent released by the formation of the molten slag,
• conducting excess molten slag from the reaction chamber,
• conducting the gas and particulate effluent generated by the formation of the slag from the reaction chamber into a second chamber, rapidly cooling the effluent within said second chamber to cause the particulate material to precipitate out of the effluent,
• treating the effluent to remove substantially all of the remaining particulate and harmful constituents to achieve acceptable environmental quality,
• said treatment step including passing the effluent through an electrostatic precipitator to remove particles, passing the effluent through a water bath to neutralize the effluent, and passing the effluent through a filter to remove particulates, mixing said effluent with atmospheric air,
• and releasing the treated effluent into the atmosphere.

The process for removing harmful constituents from non-combustible solid waste material, comprising the steps of:

• feeding particulate solid waste material into a reaction chamber,
• heating the solid waste material within the reaction chamber,
• reacting the solid waste material in said chamber in the presence of oxygen so that the solid waste material becomes a molten slag and the temperature within the chamber above the molten slag is high enough to destroy substantially all of the harmful constituents in the gaseous effluent released by the formation of the molten slag,
• conducting excess molten slag from the reaction chamber,
• conducting the gaseous and particular effluent generated by the formation of the molten slag from the reaction chamber and rapidly cooling the effluent to cause the particulate material to precipitate out of the effluent,
• further treating the effluent to remove substantially all of any remaining particulate and harmful constituents of the effluent to achieve acceptable environmental quality, and releasing the treated effluent into the atmosphere.