A thermal reactor for producing usable heat energy by destroying waste including a vessel wherein organic waste upon entering said vessel gasifies as it falls onto a carbon bed and is transformed into a synthesis gas with high heat and kinetic energy that can be harnessed to produce electricity. Inorganic waste upon entering melts as it falls onto the carbon bed and exits via slag ports to form an inert slag. Because there is no oxygen present in the gasification zone, the waste is not combusted and neither furan or dioxin are formed. The waste includes either prepared refuse derived fuel (RDF) or unprepared raw waste or a combination thereof.

A plant for the treatment of materials, in particular waste materials and refuse, comprises a combustion reactor to which the material to be treated can be supplied. The combustion reactor has an input for a combustion supporter comprising oxygen and an output for the gases that are produced during the combustion of the materials inside the reactor and, in use, is substantially isothermic or quasi-isothermic at high or very high temperature, and without substantial oxygen deficit, in all of its parts. A portion of the combustion gases is recirculated and mixed with the combustion supporter to bring about a high degree of opacification thereof, which is increased by increasing the total pressure of the combustion chamber. The substances which cannot be gasified inside the reactor are immediately fused. The parameters of the gases at the output from the reactor are constantly measured by sensors with response-time characteristics of about 2 seconds.

A method of producing a gas from a combustible material is provided. The method comprises the steps of loading the combustible material into a containment structure and sealing it therein. An oxidant is fed into the sealed containment structure with a controlled flow rate and a controlled rate of movement such that the combustible material is partly converted, thereby leaving behind thermally affected layers of combustible material after the injection point has passed through the material. At least some of the combustible material is converted into molten slag and or char that accumulates as the bottom-most thermally affected layer and subsequently cools and solidifies. The method is characterised in that it further includes the step of discharging solid slag and or char in the bottom-most thermally affected layer from under material that remains in the containment structure to remove solid slag and or char from the containment structure.