PLASMA PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT TO REMOVE RESIDUAL HYDROCARBONS FROM OIL STORAGE TANK AND/OR TO PROCESS HYDROCARBON-CONTAINING WASTE Russian patent published in 2007 - IPC A62D3/19 A62D101/20 B09C1/06 F23G7/14 

FIELD: plasma waste treatment to remove toxic or hazardous organic compositions, namely oil, oil products, pesticides and herbicides appeared as a result of oil spills or wrong rejection/recycling thereof, from different materials, namely from ground and natural precipitations and to remove oil from residual material accumulated on oil tank bottom.

SUBSTANCE: method involves continuously loading contaminated material into one end of static reactor and removing treated material from another end thereof; using plasma system to heat material to be treated; arranging plasma system for contaminated material heating in static reactor so that the system is located in static reactor end opposite to material filling end. Contaminated material is heated up to process temperature of 400-900°C and above temperature is maintained to evaporate hydrocarbon contaminants and to generate effluent gas. Hydrocarbon evaporation is followed by control of atmosphere inside static reactor to create reductive or neutral atmosphere for valuable substance extraction from contaminated material. Means, which provide effluent gas removal from static reactor, are provided in static reactor end used for continuous contaminated material loading in reactor. The effluent gas is accumulated in condensing means at static reactor outlet to provide continuous regenerated raw material removal from another end of static reactor. Equipment for hydrocarbon removal is also disclosed.

EFFECT: increased completeness of contaminant removal, provision of continuous operation, increased performance and decreased amount of gas to be treated, minimized non-condensed gas (combustion products and volatile destruction products) to provide removal of evaporated hydrocarbons from reactor without combustion or decomposition thereof and possibility to remove condensed hydrocarbons from condensing means.

4 cl, 3 dwg