[Pharmwaste] FW: [h2e] Plasma Arc Technology

[gressitt]

This came my way and wondered if this is a problem? Stevan Gressitt, M.D.

-----Original Message-----
From: Janet Brown [mailto:janet.brown at h2e-online.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 7:29 PM
To: H2E - Hospitals for a Healthy Environment - Info Exchange Listserv
Subject: [h2e] Plasma Arc Technology

H2E - Info Exchange Listserve



Posted on behalf of Karl Krupp, Health Care Without Harm Med Waste Work
Group Leader


The use of plasma arc technology to treat hazardous waste is an application
of an old technology that has been around for some time. Plasma was first
demonstrated 1804 and has been widely used to make metal products and refine
nitrogen for fertilizer since the 1900's. In its current iteration it's
being promoted by several unscrupulous companies as an "emission free" way
to treat hazardous waste and produce useful byproducts like synthetic gas
and vitrified slag that can be used as a construction material.

Unfortunately, the claim that plasma arc is "emission free" and
environmentally friendly couldn't be further from the truth.

The current technologies being proposed around the county create a sustained
electrical arc by the passing electrical current through a gas and producing
temperatures exceeding 3600 degrees Fahrenheit. Hazardous solids, liquids,
sludges, or entire waste drums are dropped into the treatment vessel which
becomes hot, dusty, and turbulent as the waste materials are dissociated
into molecular components. The gases and toxins generated include high
volumes of halogens, particulates, volatile metals, volatile organics,
radionuclides, and deadly toxins such as dioxin and furans. 

As with other technologies like incineration, promoters are hoping to
convince regulators and the public that they can manage and treat this
exhaust gas stream with scrubbers, baghouses, molecular sieves, and HEPA
filters. This is probably a forlorn hope based on the failure of such
control devices on countless incinerators and other dirty industrial
processes. 

To make matters worse, plasma arc is an extraordinarily energy intensive
process. There are no good current estimates about how much electricity
would be used to operate a typical facility-but the demand will be enormous.
Unfortunately, most of the electricity used to power these inefficient
technologies will be generated through combustion of fossil fuels, adding
yet another environmental cost.

It is a good maxim that if something seems too good to be true, it usually
isn't. That is certainly the case with plasma arc technology. 

Karl Krupp

HCWH Medwaste Work Group Leader
415-248-5010  
karl at greenaction.org

Janet Brown
Partner Coordinator
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
PO Box 3366
Amherst, MA 01004
413/253-0254
janet.brown at h2e-online.org
www.h2e-online.org 

Janet Brown is a member of the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) Steering
Committee.  For more information, visit www.gghc.org.


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