Process and system for the remediation of soil containing waste material

摘要

A system and method, including a mobile system, for the remediation of soil containing waste and carbonaceous material, especially for the remediation of a mixture of lead-contaminated soil and waste lead-acid battery casings, includes a plasma arc furnace (18) unit having a plasma arc torch which operates at a sufficiently elevated temperature to (i) convert part of the mixture into a combustible gas, (ii) volatilize contaminants such as lead which are present in the mixture and entrain the volatilized contaminants as a vapor in the combustible gas, and (iii) vitrify the soil, whereby contaminants that were present in the mixture are substantially removed therefrom. An internal combustion engine-driven generator (102a-102c) supplies the plasma arc furnace (18) with electrical power and receives combustible gas from the plasma arc furnace as a fuel source in order to drive the generator. The various units of the system may be mounted for mobility (e.g. on truck beds, rail cars or the like) to permit transportation to a landfill in need of remediation.