PROCESS FOR VITRIFYING ASBESTOS CONTAINING WASTE, INFECTIOUS WASTE, TOXIC MATERIALS AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE.

摘要

The invention concerns the process for converting waste materials into a silicate, said processing comprising: heating a silicate melt within a glass melting furnace so as to maintain the melt at a temperature above the decomposition temperature of waste materials; supplying waste materials to the furnace above the melt so that the waste materials fall onto the melt and the waste materials are melted into silicates; withdrawing molten silicate from the furnace in a molten glass stream at a temperature of at least 900 DEG C; cutting the molten glass stream into a set of gobs by interrupting the molten glass stream; contacting said gobs with a cold surface to from gems having at least one flattened surface; and withdrawing molten silicate from the furnace through a melt outlet adjacent the bottom of the furnace, the melt outlet being connected to an airlift conduit in which gas bubbles are introduced to create an effective head pressure to force the melt up the airlift and out of the furnace.