Incandescent waste disposal system and method

A waste disposal system for the processing of waste and for rendering a hazardous component of the waste nonhazardous without discharge of harmful emissions, the system comprising:

• a waste processing chamber;
• means for admitting waste into the chamber;
• means for admitting an inert gas into the chamber;
• an anode affixed within the chamber;
• a plurality of unrestricted plasma arc torches, each torch having means for forming a plasma arc, each torch further having an electrode tip pointing generally toward a central region of the chamber, each electrode tip positioned at most a maximum firing distance away from the anode and further positioned sufficiently near an adjacent torch that an overlap of the plasma arcs formed therewith forms a defined plasma cloud from the inert gas within the chamber, the plasma cloud having temperature and electron flow characteristics sufficient to decompose the waste and render the hazardous component nonhazardous;
• means for firing the plasma torches having sufficient voltage to create an arc between the electrode tips and the anode;
• means for sustaining an electric current flow from the electrode tips to the anode;
• and
• means for discharging the decomposed waste from the chamber.

A waste disposal system for the processing of waste and for rendering a hazardous component of the waste nonhazardous without discharge of harmful emissions, the system comprising:

• a waste processing chamber having an interior wall surface;
• means for admitting waste into the chamber;
• means for admitting an inert gas into the chamber;
• an anode affixed within the chamber;
• plural means for creating a defined plasma cloud having a net charge from the inert gas within the chamber, the plasma cloud having temperature and electron flow characteristics sufficient to decompose the waste and render the hazardous component nonhazardous;
• means for firing the plasma cloud creating means having sufficient voltage to create an arc between each inwardly facing tip thereof and the anode, each of the tips positioned sufficiently near an adjacent tip that an overlapping of adjacent conically shaped plasma arcs form a defined plasma cloud,
• means for sustaining an electric current flow from the electrode tips to the anode;
• and
• means for discharging the decomposed waste from the chamber;
• wherein:
• the inert gas admitting means comprises nozzle means for admitting an inert gas having physical properties that permit an ionization thereof under conditions of firing an unrestricted plasma arc torch therein and a thermal conductivity in the unionized state sufficiently low to provide an effective thermal barrier between the plasma cloud and the chamber interior wall surface for preventing a substantial amount of heat transfer from the plasma cloud to the chamber interior wall surface;
• the chamber interior wall surface has a like charge to the plasma cloud formed, thereby repelling the plasma cloud therefrom;
• and
• in use, a cooler region is maintained between the plasma cloud and the chamber interior wall surface, the cooler region comprising the low-thermal-conductivity unionized inert gas.

A method for processing waste and for rendering a hazardous component of the waste nonhazardous without discharge of harmful emissions, the method comprising the steps of:

• admitting waste into a chamber;
• admitting an inert gas into the chamber;
• creating a defined plasma cloud with an interaction between a plurality of unrestricted plasma arcs from the inert gas within the chamber, each plasma arc generated sufficiently near an adjacent plasma arc to permit an interaction therebetween, the interaction forming the plasma cloud, the plasma cloud having temperature and electron flow characteristics sufficient to decompose the waste and render the hazardous component nonhazardous;
• discharging the decomposed waste from the chamber;
• and
• collecting the discharged and decomposed waste.

A waste disposal system for the processing of waste and for rendering a hazardous component of the waste nonhazardous without discharge of harmful emissions, the system comprising:

• a waste processing chamber;
• means for admitting waste into the chamber;
• means for admitting an inert gas into the chamber;
• means for creating a defined plasma cloud from an unrestricted arc plasma from the inert gas within the chamber, the plasma cloud having temperature and electron flow characteristics sufficient to decompose the waste and render the hazardous component nonhazardous, the plasma cloud creating means comprising:
• an anode affixed within the chamber;
• a plurality of unrestricted plasma arc torches, each having an electrode tip pointing generally toward a central region of the chamber, each electrode tip positioned at most a maximum firing distance away from the anode, each torch adapted to create a conically shaped plasma arc having a net positive charge, each electrode tip further positioned sufficiently close to an adjacent electrode tip that an overlapping of adjacent conically shaped plasma arcs form a defined plasma cloud region;
• means for firing the plasma torches having sufficient voltage to create an arc between the electrode tips and the anode;
• and
• means for sustaining an electron flow from the electrode tips to the anode and to the waste for decomposing the waste incandescently;
• and
• means for discharging the decomposed waste from the chamber.