Modeling of the physics and chemistry of thermal plasma waste destruction

The application of thermochemical modeling, chemical kinetic modeling, and computational fluid dynamic modeling to waste destruction by thermal plasma s is considered. Destruction of liquid and gaseous wastes in the PLASCON(TM ) waste destruction process is used as an example. It is demonstrated that thermochemical calculation of the mixing temperature is a useful tool to pr edict the level to which wastes are destroyed; however, chemical kinetic ca lculations are necessary to investigate the formation of byproducts in the process. Computational fluid dynamic modeling is required to obtain tempera ture and flow fields in two dimensions. When combined with chemical kinetic s, composition fields can also be obtained. These points are illustrated us ing the examples of chlorobenzene and chlorofluorocarbon destruction. (C) 2 001 American Institute of Physics.