LIGHTWEIGHT COMPACT WASTE TREATMENT FURNACE

摘要

The design of a lightweight and compact furnace used for the treatment of wastes is disclosed. The furnace has been designed specifically for use in applications where the weight of the furnace must be minimized and where the available space for installing the furnace is limited. The furnace consists of three main chambers. In a first chamber (12), the water and the organic compounds are dissociated and vaporized and the metals and ceramics are vitrified and transformed into molten slag. A plasma torch (18) or an induction coil can be used to provide the energy required for this operation. In the second chamber (28), the dissociated and vaporized compounds are burned in air or oxygen using a plasma torch (32) to supplement the energy requirements. The third chamber (38) receives and stores the vitrified slag. The furnace disclosed herein uses a unique lightweight, multilayered, hot chamber wall construction which incorporates advanced materials to provide both high energy efficiency and a dynamic cooling control. The lightweight wall construction used for the furnace is an essential feature of the present invention.