Treatment of waste

Abstract

A method of destroying organic waste in a bath of molten metal and slag contained in a vessel (3) is disclosed. The method comprises injecting organic waste into the bath to form a primary reaction zone (13) in which the organic waste is thermally cracked and the products of the thermal cracking which are not absorbed into the bath are released into the space above the surface of the bath. The method further comprises injecting an oxygen-containing gas toward the surface of the bath to form a secondary reaction zone (17) in the space above the surface of the bath in which the oxidizable materials in the products from the primary reaction zone (13) are completely oxidized and the heat released by such oxidation is transferred to the bath. In order to facilitate efficient heat transfer from the second reaction zone (13) to the bath, the method further comprises injecting an inert or other suitable gas into the bath to cause molten metal and slag to be ejected upwardly from the bath into the secondary reaction zone (17).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.