Graphite electrode DC arc technology program for buried waste treatment

The goal of the program is to apply EPI's Arc Furnace to the processing of Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) waste from Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This is being facilitated through the Department of Energy's Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration (BWID) program. A second objective is to apply the diagnostics capability of MIT's Plasma Fusion Center to the understanding of the high temperature processes taking place in the furnace. This diagnostics technology has promise for being applicable in other thermal treatment processes. The program has two parts, a test series in an engineering-scale DC arc furnace which was conducted in an EPI furnace installed at the Plasma Fusion Center and a pilot-scale unit which is under construction at MIT. This pilot-scale furnace will be capable of operating in a continuous feed and continuous tap mode. Included in this work is the development and implementation of diagnostics to evaluate high temperature processes such as DC arc technology. This technology can be used as an effective stabilization process for Superfund wastes