Electrical and optical emission properties of a burning plasma between a liquid cathode and a metal anode are presented in this paper. The plasma has constricted contact points at the liquid cathode and is clearly filamentary in nature near the water surface.The cathode voltage drop depends on conductivity rather than pH and is significantly different for distilled water and electrolyte solutions. An acidification of the liquid due to the plasma is always observed.The rotational temperature of OH and N 2 in the bulk of the plasma is, respectively, in the range 3200-3750 K and 2500-2750 K. The rotational temperature of nitrogen near the metal anode is typically two times smaller. Electron densities near the cathode measured by Stark broadening of H β are in the range (5.5-8.0) × 10 14 cm −3 , the atomic excitation temperatures in the range 5750-7250 K. Differences in electrical and optical emission properties between the cases when distilled water and electrolyte solutions are used as cathode are discussed in detail.

The renewable evolution in the energy industry and the depletion of natural resources are putting pressure on the waste industry to shift towards flexible treatment technologies with efficient materials and/or energy recovery. In this context, a thermochemical conversion method of recent interest is plasma gasification, which is capable of producing syngas from a wide variety of waste streams. The produced syngas can be valorized for both energetic (heat and/or electricity) and chemical (ammonia, hydrogen or liquid hydrocarbons) end-purposes. This paper evaluates the performance of experiments on a single-stage plasma gasification system for the treatment of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from excavated waste. A comparative analysis of the syngas characteristics and process yields was done for seven cases with different types of gasifying agents (CO2+O2, H2O, CO2+H2O and O2+H2O). The syngas compositions were compared to the thermodynamic equilibrium compositions and the performance of the single-stage plasma gasification of RDF was compared to that of similar experiments with biomass and to the performance of a two-stage plasma gasification process with RDF. The temperature range of the experiment was from 1400 to 1600 K and for all cases, a medium calorific value syngas was produced with lower heating values up to 10.9 MJ/Nm(3), low levels of tar, high levels of CO and H2 and which composition was in good agreement to the equilibrium composition. The carbon conversion efficiency ranged from 80% to 100% and maximum cold gas efficiency and mechanical gasification efficiency of respectively 56% and 95%, were registered. Overall, the treatment of RDF proved to be less performant than that of biomass in the same system. Compared to a two-stage plasma gasification system, the produced syngas from the single-stage reactor showed more favourable characteristics, while the recovery of the solid residue as a vitrified slag is an advantage of the two-stage set-up.

This paper presents a numerical investigation of characteristics and processes in the worldwide unique type of thermal plasma generator with combined stabilization of arc by argon flow and water vortex, the so-called hybrid-stabilized arc. The arc has been used for spraying of ceramic or metallic particles and for pyrolysis of biomass. The net emission coefficients as well as the partial characteristics methods for radiation losses from the argon–water arc are employed. Calculations for 300–600 A with 22.5–40 standard litres per minute (slm) of argon reveal transition from a transonic plasma flow for 400 A to a supersonic one for 600 A with a maximum Mach number of 1.6 near the exit nozzle of the plasma torch. A comparison with available experimental data near the exit nozzle shows very good agreement for the radial temperature profiles. Radial velocity profiles calculated 2 mm downstream of the nozzle exit show good agreement with the profiles determined from the combination of calculation and experiment (the so-called integrated approach). A recent evaluation of the Mach number from the experimental data for 500 and 600 A confirmed the existence of the supersonic flow regime.

No abstract

No abstract