Engineering%20Applications%20of%20Plasma%20Arc%20Technology

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Plasma and Renewable Energy Center (PREC)
José L. Colón School of Engineering Universidad
del Turabo
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OUR PROBLEM Municipal Solid Waste
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Municipal Solid Waste

• P.R. generates over 11,000 tons/day
• Most of the disposal places already closed
• The ones in operation are quickly becoming full,
  and most of them in violation of environmental
  regulations
• No land available for new fills
• Costs increasing
• Our mayor problem
• Contamination of our water wells

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Ideal Waste Disposal System

• That can process mixed solid and liquid waste
• Non polluting and environmentally safe
• Not requiring previous treatment or preparation
• That can recuperate all useful material or energy
  contents
• Final residue that could also be useful
• Able to process toxic and hazardous materials,
  medical wastes, plastics, tires, etc
• No land fill required
• Recycle, Re-use, Recovery (RRR)

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Plasma Technology

• Plasma A gas in a conductive state
• Very high temperatures can be produced and
  controlled with the electric power applied
• Lightning is a natural example and Electric arc
  welding is a produced case
• Does not need air to operate
• Can operate with any gas
• Available with Power levels from 100kw to 10 mw
  Temperatures from 4,000C to 7,000C

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Process(Data for one ton of MSW)
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Plasma Technology Ideal for Municipal Waste
Disposal

• Organic components gasified into H2/CO fuel gas
• Vitrified sediment is re-usable for a variety of
  applications
• Hazardous and toxic components broken into basic
  elements
• Heavy metals, etc. are immobilized in a glass
  rock

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Municipal Waste Ideal for Plasma Torch
Technology

• Organic components
• Will provide enough fuel to generate the needed
  electricity for the process plus a significant
  extra amount that can be used for other useful
  purposes

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Tests Done at Georgia Tech

• PCBs
• Asbestos ashes
• Chemical wastes
• Bio-medical wastes
• Plastics
• Used tires

• Heavy metals
• Low radioactive waste
• Industrial waste
• Solid municipal waste
• Oven dust
• Organic solid and liquid waste

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Tiles Fabricated With Vitreous Residue Proved to
Be Superior to the Ones With Recycled Glass
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Systems in Operation

• France process asbestos ashes
• Madison, PA toxic waste destruction
• Japan process junk autos
• Jonquiere, Canada aluminum recovery
• Jackson, GA will process used tires

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Universidad del TuraboActivities

• Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
  (PRIDCO) (proposal) Prototype unit to process
  municipal solid wastes
• NASA (proposal)
• Hydrogen production
• Compact Plasma Demonstration Unit

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Plasma and Renewable Energy Center (PREC)

• Development of a plasma prototype unit for
  educational and demonstration purposes
• Design and build a compact plasma unit
• Demonstrate the efficacy of the process
• Test the characteristics of gasifying various
  types of feeds
• Training professional and technical personnel
• Conduct research and development
• Test an Uninterruptible Power Supply system fed
  by the installed Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels
  to supply the Center

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Thanks