Provided is a cyclonic plasma melting furnace. A melting furnace chamber body includes an inlet through which waste is input and an outlet through which air or gas is discharged. The outlet is provided in a direction opposite to the inlet. At least one plasma torch is provided on the melting furnace chamber body so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction in which the air or the gas is discharged through the outlet.

The present disclosure provides a solidifying method of a radionuclide. The solidifying method of the radionuclide includes operations of: providing a low melting point glass including Bi.sub.2O.sub.3, B.sub.2O.sub.3, ZnO and SiO.sub.2; providing a glass mixture mixing a mixture to be treated containing a hydroxide of radionuclide and BaSO.sub.4 and the low melting point glass; and heating the glass mixture.

An optimized gasification/vitrification processing system having a gasification unit which converts organic materials to a hydrogen rich gas and ash in communication with a joule heated vitrification unit which converts the ash formed in the gasification unit into glass, and a plasma which converts elemental carbon and products of incomplete combustion formed in the gasification unit into a hydrogen rich gas.

Concrete may be melted to form a glass product. Methods and batch compositions including concrete may be used to produce amorphous silica materials including, but not limited to, glass, container glass, fiber glass, glass bead, glass spheres, sheet or plate glass, glass aggregate, glass sand, abrasives, proppants, foamed glass, and manufactured glass articles. The initial processing steps include preparing a melt batch comprising concrete and, optionally, other components, melting the melt batch, and cooling the melted melt batch. Further processing steps may be utilized to produce the glass article.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of a method, apparatus and system for the efficient melting of a feedstock to at least one of a molten and vitrified state to be used in a manufacturing system comprised of: a melter to which the feedstock is provided; and a heat recovery system configured to capture exhaust waste heat produced by the melter, wherein the heat recovery system transfers an energy recovered from the exhaust waste heat to pre-heat the feedstock provided to the melter.

A method for immobilizing arsenic includes adding calcium arsenate to a glass-forming material containing iron, silica, and alkaline components so that an iron/silica weight ratio is in a range of 0.5 to 0.9 and an amount of alkaline components is in a range of 14 wt % to 26 wt %, and thereby incorporating the arsenic into a glass solidified body. For example, the method for immobilizing arsenic may include: adding an alkaline solution and an oxidizing agent to a copper-arsenic-containing substance, and thereby carrying out an oxidizing leaching; separating a leach residue by solid-liquid separation; adding calcium hydroxide to a recovered alkaline arsenate solution to generate calcium arsenate; and adding the glass-forming material to the recovered calcium arsenate so that the iron/silica weight ratio and the amount of alkaline components are in the above-mentioned ranges, and thereby incorporating the arsenic into the glass solidified body.

[Problem] The purpose of the present invention is to provide: a plasma melting method for performing, on a material to be processed such as incineration ash and general waste or industrial waste, a processing in which plasma is generated at a low voltage in the upper part of a furnace and the material to be processed is efficiently subjected to a melt-processing; and a plasma melting furnace used for the plasma melting method. [Solution] This invention is characterized in that: a coke layer is first laid on the furnace bottom of a plasma electric melting furnace in which a metal layer is placed on the furnace bottom and in which a plurality of electrodes can be moved vertically by an electrode raising/lowering device, and some of a material to be processed that is at least one among general waste, industrial waste, and incineration ash is charged onto the coke layer; the lower ends of the electrodes are positioned near the furnace bottom and the passage of current is commenced at a low voltage; the lower ends of the electrodes are raised while the passage of current is stable; the material to be processed is subjected to an additional charge; plasma is generated at the lower part of the electrodes at an operation voltage obtained by raising the voltage to a high voltage from the low voltage applied during the stable passage of current; and the material to be processed is subjected to a melt-processing.

Process for confinement of waste containing at least one chemical species to be confined, by in-can vitrification in a hot metal can into which waste and a vitrification additive are added, the waste and the vitrification additive are melted to obtain a glass melt which is then cooled, characterised in that at least one oxidising agent is also added into the metal can and in that the concentration of oxidising agent(s) expressed as oxide(s) in the glass melt is between 0.1 and 20% by mass, preferably 4 and 20% by mass, even more preferably 5 and 15% by mass, and even more preferably 10 and 13% by mass of the glass melt mass.

The present invention relates to a method for producing mineral material suitable for use as raw material in a glass melting method, comprising: supplying a main tank with a vitrifiable mixture of materials comprising recycling materials comprising organic matter; melting the vitrifiable mixture of materials in the main tank using submerged burners to obtain a melt; and introducing a solid oxidant into the melt.

A method of fabrication of arsenic glass, comprising forming pellets of an arsenic-containing glass-forming mixture comprising arsenic in a range between about 30 and about 50% w/w and glass forming elements, and melting the pellets by direct heating to a temperature in a range between about 950 and about 1250 C.