Fuel production from wastes using molten salts

The Rockwell International molten salt process for gasification of wastes with resource recovery has been shown here to be well-suited for the processing of a variety of wastes. A variety of waste forms may be processed, that is, solids, liquids, and solid-liquid mixtures. The process is suitable for applications which involve either small or large throughputs. The gasification medium, sodium carbonate, is stable, non-volatile, inexpensive, and nontoxic. Sulfur-containing pollutants are retained in the melt when sulfur-containing wastes are gasified. In the same manner, halogen-containing pollutants are retained during gasification of halogen-containing wastes. The gasification of a high-nitrogen-content waste (leather scraps) produces very little NO/sub x/ in the off-gas. Valuable minerals may be recovered by processing of the salt after gasification of mineral-laden wastes. In general, the molten salt process is best applied to waste materials involving potential pollutants (such as sulfur or chromium) or to wastes where gasification and resource recovery are important (such as the recovery of silver with simultaneous gasification of x-ray film).