Continuous process for transforming material, yielding controlled composition products and apparatus apt to carry out such process

A continuous process for transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside molten slag, materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered,

• within an apparatus having a single reaction chamber with a substantially cylindrical symmetry, including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion communicating with and being functionally distinct from said bottom portion, said process comprising:
• optionally introducing into said top portion of the reaction chamber, through a first injection level, a comburent gas for post-combustion of process gasses;
• introducing into said bottom portion of said reaction chamber within molten slag, vertically from the top thereof and/or sideways through a second injection level, the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally slag inoculants and additives and material-carrying gasses;
• wherein the material to be transformed has a granulometry lower than 5 mm;
• optionally introducing stirring gasses into the molten slag within the reaction chamber bottom;
• extracting process flue gasses from the top portion of said reaction chamber;
• and
• tapping from the bottom portion of the reaction chamber transformed material of controlled composition and inert slag.

A continuous process for transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside a molten bath, materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered,

• within an apparatus having a single reactor with a substantially cylindrical symmetry, including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion communicating with and being functionally distinct from said bottom portion, said process comprising:
• optionally introducing into said top portion of the reactor, through a first injection level, a comburent gas for post-combustion of process gasses;
• introducing into said bottom portion of said reactor within the molten bath, vertically from the top thereof and/or sideways through a second injection level, the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally slag inoculants and additives and material-carrying gasses;
• wherein the injection rate of the comburent into the top portion of the reactor is lower than 40 m/s, and such as to allow the individual jets to intermingle thereamong and the combustion of the process gas fed from the bottom portion of the reactor, and obtaining a heat transfer efficiency (HTE) greater than 70% between the gas and the bath;
• optionally introducing stirring gasses into the molten bath within the reactor bottom;
• extracting process flue gasses from the top portion of said reactor;
• and
• tapping from the bottom portion of the reactor transformed material of controlled composition and inert slag.

A continuous process for transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside molten slag, materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered,

• within an apparatus having a single reactor with a substantially cylindrical symmetry, including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion communicating with and being functionally distinct from said bottom portion, said process comprising:
• optionally introducing into said top portion of the reactor, through a first injection level, a comburent gas for post-combustion of process gasses;
• introducing into said bottom portion of said reactor within molten slag, vertically from the top thereof and/or sideways through a second injection level, the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally slag inoculants and additives and material-carrying gasses;
• optionally introducing stirring gasses into the molten slag within the reactor bottom;
• extracting process flue gasses from the top portion of said reactor;
• and
• tapping from the bottom portion of the reactor transformed material of controlled composition and inert slag;
• wherein the binary basicity index of the slag is greater than 1.

A continuous process for transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside a molten bath, materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered,

• within an apparatus having a single reactor with a substantially cylindrical symmetry, including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion communicating with and being functionally distinct from said bottom portion, said process comprising:
• optionally introducing into said top portion of the reactor, through a first injection level, a comburent gas for post-combustion of process gasses;
• introducing into said bottom portion of said reactor and within the molten bath, vertically from the top thereof and/or sideways through a second injection level, the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally slag inoculants and additives and material-carrying gasses;
• introducing stirring gas into the molten bath within the reactor bottom, the power provided by the stirring gas being lower than 2.5 kW per ton of hot metal bath;
• extracting process flue gasses from the top portion of said reactor;
• and
• tapping from the bottom portion of the reactor transformed material of controlled composition and inert slag.

A continuous process for transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside molten slag, materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered,

• within an apparatus having a single reactor with a substantially cylindrical symmetry, including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion communicating with and being functionally distinct from said bottom portion, said process comprising:
• optionally introducing into said top portion of the reactor, through a first injection level, a comburent gas for post-combustion of process gasses;
• introducing into said bottom portion of said reactor within the molten slag, vertically from the top thereof and/or sideways through a second injection level, the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally slag inoculants and additives and material-carrying gasses;
• wherein the internal pressure of the reactor ranges from 1 to 4 bars;
• optionally introducing stirring gasses into the molten slag within the reactor bottom;
• extracting process flue gasses from the top portion of said reactor;
• and
• tapping from the bottom portion of the reactor transformed material of controlled composition and inert slag.

An apparatus for carrying our a process for the continuous transforming, by chemico-physical reactions inside molten slag, of materials to be gasified, thermally destroyed, inertized or from which elements of commercial value are to be recovered, yielding controlled composition products, characterized in that it comprises:

• a reaction chamber (1) of substantially cylindrical symmetry, having a top portion (2) and a bottom portion (3) for containing molten slag, communicating and functionally distinct therebetween for carrying out the process;
• a substantially frustoconical-shaped connector (4), between the top portion (2) and a flue gas ejection conduit (5), and
• means (6, 7) for concomitantly and jointly feeding, into said bottom portion (3) containing molten slag, sideways and vertically from the top thereof the material to be transformed, the fuel, the comburent and optionally the slag inoculants and additives and the material-carrying gases;
• optionally means (8) for sideways injecting the comburent with said bottom portion containing the molten slag in order to carry out the post-combustion of the process gases;
• a tap hole (9) for the transformed material (10) and the slag (11) yielded;
• and
• optionally, means for feeding the inert stirring gas onto the reactor bottom.