Treating hazardous wastes with pulsed-plasma technology

A new, efficient, and environmentally friendly pulsed-plasma technology for hazardous waste treatment is presented. Tests were successfully carried out using modular, transportable laboratory equipment. Experiments were performed using perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene as reference materials and real industrial waste comprising mono- and dichlorobenzene (30-70%). Although the process was not optimized, it was found that complete destruction of about 2 cc of waste per pulse could be achieved with an energy consumption of 7-9 kJ/pulse, which is at least 50% less than the amount of energy required in other thermal methods. This work was performed within the framework of the 4th European Brite Euram R & D Program - Prometheus.