Chapter 6 Thermal plasma processing

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the principles and applications of thermal plasma processing. Thermal plasma is a viscous, electrically, and thermally conducting fluid. Plasma retains many of the properties of gases, and behaves in conformance with the physical laws valid for gases. The specific properties of plasma that distinguish it from a gas become apparent in the presence of a magnetic field, when the plasma acquires nonisotropic properties. The unique feature of the thermal plasma jet that distinguishes it from other heat sources is its high power density. The heat transfer process from the plasma to the particles is of fundamental importance in all plasma processing applications. Plasma-particle heat transfer is very complicated and depends on the thermophysical properties of the material as well as the enthalpy and composition of the plasma. Thermal plasma processing of steel-plant dust not only offers an effective way to destroy the hazardous waste, but also to recover the valuable metals, such as zinc, nickel, and chromium.