We've read comments online about us using 'plasma gasification' as part of the Lifetime Recycling Village process and wanted to ensure that we clarified this misconception. The proposed Lifetime Recycling Village (LRV) does not propose plasma gasification, rather plasma vitrification....
So what is plasma vitrification?
We're sure people will have googled "plasma vitrification" and seen the 676,000 hits.
There are a number of plasma systems, suppliers and applications. The specific purpose of the Plasma unit in the LRV is Plasma vitrification of Air Pollution Control (APC) residues and Fly Ash. This is important because a quick google search can give the impression that we are plasma gasifying mixed wastes - there are companies that propose this type of technology for destroying raw waste, but this is not what is proposed at LRV.
The LRV plasma system from the UK company Tetronics, is designed to process the by-products of the combustion (gasification) process in the LRV. That is to say it will take the bag house residues, the APC and the fly ash and convert them to a glass and metal mix. The amount of each is dependent on the material entering the plasma.
A plasma then is simply an ionised gas, and is often described as the fourth state of matter, i.e. when energy is added to a solid (first state) it becomes a liquid (second state); with more added energy it becomes a gas (third state) and when further energy is added it becomes a plasma. Examples of plasma are lightning, sparks coming from static electricity, fluorescent lights, arc welding and the aurora borealis (northern and southern (polar) lights).
As plasma arc formation does not involve the direct combustion of a fuel to generate heat, it is considered to be a clean heat source. As well as intense heat, the plasma also emits high levels of light, which aids the rapid destruction of organic compounds. Due to its compact and controllable nature, Tetronics’ plasma systems provide unique opportunities for industrial processing. In fact, plasma is one of the cleanest atmospheric thermal processing technologies available and allows Tetronics systems to treat organic and inorganic hazardous wastes, transforming them into substances that are benign to the environment and often producing valuable by‐products for use elsewhere in industry so completing, or closing, the recycling loop.
Plasma technology is also effective in metal recovery processes as well as in a range of production processes, where it can be used to improve the quality of materials and the efficiency of how they are produced.
Plasmarok
If you came along to the Newton Mearns exhibitions you hopefully saw an example of the by-product from the plasma process, or PlasmaRok, as it is known. We will have samples available to look at again this Saturday in Barrhead.
You can read more about Plasmrok here:
We hope this is helpful.
Best,
LRV Project Team
