| Abstract [eng] |
The amount of waste generation is continuously increasing, and the ways are being sought to deal with it most sustainably and efficiently. Currently, waste management is based on the principle of the waste hierarchy, which is composed of five stages: prevention, reuse, recycle, recovery, and disposal. Despite many efforts to accomplish the first three stages, still, there is a part of the wastes that can only be handled by recovery (e.g. waste-to-energy conversion (WtE)). Among WtE conversion technologies, plasma technologies are considered as a viable solution for waste management in the future. However, in seeking to widen the use of such technologies, further experimental studies are needed. Thus, this work aimed to investigate the plasma conversion processes of liquid (crude glycerol) and solid (diesel-contaminated soil) wastes, determining the optimal performing conditions for the crude glycerol conversion process, and evaluating diesel fuel removal efficiency from the soil. The experimental research of crude glycerol conversion using thermal plasma allowed determining the influence of the gasifying agent type and flow rate to the crude glycerol conversion process. Also, the efficiency of proposed plasma-based technology was evaluated by calculating the mass and energy balance of the plasma system during the glycerol conversion process. Experimental research studies on the remediation of diesel fuel contaminated soil allowed evaluating the suitability of thermal plasma to treat petroleum-hydrocarbons polluted soil. The main emphasis was placed on the determination of soil remediation process dependence on plasma forming gas and contaminant concentration. |
