Reactor and method for disassociating waste

A reactor for dissociating waste in a molten metal bath and for forming gaseous, vitreous and molten metal product streams from said waste, the reactor being formed of materials which are refractory to the product streams and comprising:

• a) a vertical reaction section for containing a molten metal bath which can dissociate waste to form gaseous, vitreous and molten metal reaction products;
• b) means for directing the waste into the vertical section of the reactor;
• c) means for directing an oxidant into the reactor for reaction with dissociation products of the waste to form said reaction products;
• and
• d) a horizontal separation section which is joined with an upper portion of said vertical reaction section, said horizontal separation section extending from the vertical reaction section and having discharge means for proximate and separate discharge of the gaseous, vitreous and molten metal product streams from the reactor at a location which is remote from said vertical reaction section, whereby the vitreous and molten metal reaction products formed in the vertical reaction section flow from said vertical reaction section through the horizontal separation section to the discharge means, thereby promoting physical separation of said reaction products to form distinct gaseous, vitreous and molten metal product streams for separate discharge of said streams from the reactor.