Tetronics is a UK-based company with 50 years of experience in plasma technology. They have developed a plasma treatment process for air pollution control residues (APCr) that provides a near-zero waste solution. The process vitrifies the inorganic fraction of the APCr into a stable glass-like material called Plasmarok that can be used for construction aggregates. Hydrochloric acid is also recovered from the process as a commercial product. Tetronics has operational commercial plants in Japan processing APCr with throughput capacities up to 40,000 tonnes per year. The plasma treatment process provides an alternative to landfilling APCr and recovers it as useful products.

1. Plasma Treatment of Air Pollution Control
Residues
Dr T.P. Johnson, Dr D. Deegan, Dr Y. Rong
21st August 2016
www.tetronics.com

2. Tetronics International
UK Company with 50 years’ global experience
delivering clean plasma technology for maximum
resource recovery and the highest levels of
hazardous material destruction.
Our Technology
Developed, enhanced and
continually refined over 50 years
with 133 patents, granted or
pending across 12 families
Widely recognised as World
Leaders in Plasma
Tailored solutions for Resource
Recovery and Hazardous Material
Treatment
Technically and Economically
proven with an impressive track
record
Global Service Provision
Tailored Support
World Class Plasma Materials
Testing Facility in UK

3. Application Summary
Electronics Waste -
Spent Catalysts -
Mining Waste -
Steel Plant Waste -
- Air Pollution Control Residue
- Nuclear
- Petrochemical
- Asbestos
- Spent Potliner
- Organics

4. Air Pollution Control Residue （APCr）
Waste Management Mechanisms
Haz Landfill
Physical-Chemical Treatment & Non-Haz Landfill
Salt Mine Storage
Physical-Chemical Treatment & Product

5. APCr Market Characteristics
• Thermal waste management is playing a key role in the future as an alternative to
landfill for wastes
• Limited hazardous waste landfill disposal capacity
• Landfill disposal considered unsustainable, there is a desire to phase it out
• Recovery and/or reuse trends in waste management (hierarchy) with waste seen as a
resource
• Increasing stringency of operational and waste management regulations
• 2011 quantity produced in the UK was circa 231k tonnes/yr and predicted to increase
to 500k tpy in the short term (2016)
• Tightening transboundary movement of waste restrictions, i.e. permitted only for
recovery
• APCr management seen as a hurdle in licensing new primary industrial plants
• Integrated long term disposal cost are increasing, now at £140 – £160 / tonne waste
with contract term lengths increasing

7. Plasma Furnace Configuration

8. Plant operating parameters
Plant Capacity 20,000 tpa 40,000 tpa
Nominal Feeding Time, h/y 6570 6570
APCr Feedrate, kg/h 3044 6088
Blended Material Feedrate, kg/h 3973 7945
Gross Power Requirement, kW 2111 4221
Furnace Steady State Heat Losses, kW 893 1786
Molten Slag Flowrate, kg/h 2392 4785
Metal Alloy Flowrate, kg/h 9 19
Furnace Off-gas Flowrate, Nm3
/h 796 1591
• Scalability to 20,000 ~ 40,000 tpy waste
• Excellent safety & environmental credentials
• Commercial aggregate and acid products from
waste

9. Plasmarok® – From Waste to Product
Plasmarok® an Environment Agency approved product
Use - Can be used for a range of applications (e.g. aggregate)
Suitability - Mechanically stronger than natural alternatives such as basalt
and granite
Safety - Non hazardous and extremely resistant to leaching
Leachability – leaching test results (BS EN 12457-3) for Plasmarok® from
APCr slag are well below waste acceptance criteria (WAC) for inert landfill
in EU
mg/kg As Cd Mo Ni Pb
WAC Limit for Inert Landfill 0.5 0.04 0.50 0.40 0.5
APCr-1 slag 0.02 <0.001 0.02 0.02 0.15
APCr-2 slag 0.02 <0.001 <0.01 0.02 <0.01

10. Density
g/cm
3
Open
porosity
%
Young's
modulus
GPa
Flexural
strength
MPa
Compressive
strength
MPa
Hardness
Hv
GPa
Cast APC glass 2.9 0 nd nd nd 6.2
Petrurgic APC
glass-ceramics
2.6 2.0 >93 81 nd 6.0
Pressed &
sintered
APC glass
ceramics
2.4 5.3 95 61 nd 5.4
2.4 5.7 87 58 nd 4.2
2.1 6.0 62 31 nd 4.5
APC geopolymer-
glass composite 2.1 10-15 nd nd 120 nd
Glass 2.5 0 70 40 320 nd
Granite 2.7 0 60 20 250 nd
Concrete 2.4 15 20 2 30 100
Properties of Materials Derived from
Plasma Vitrified APCr

11. Hydrochloric Acid Recovery – From Waste to Product
High Cl content in typical APCr, ~ 22%
Hydrochloric acid recovered from plasma furnace off gas will be up to 30% in
concentration
Reducing downstream alkali consumption in scrubber and waste water discharge
Market value
reduce the consumption of alkali recovery exhaust system ,

12. Tetronics Ash Smelting Track Record
Client ID Location
Date
Commissioned
Throughput
TPY
Hitachi Zosen
(Kamo City)
JAPAN 1999 14,000
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Iwaki)
JAPAN 2000 25,000
Hitachi Zosen
(Hitachi City)
JAPAN 2000 10,000
Takuma
(Sapporo)
JAPAN 2000 42,000
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Kouchi)
JAPAN 2001 21,000
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Tsushima)
JAPAN 2001 17,000
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Tochigi)
JAPAN 2003 9,900
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Hiroshima)
JAPAN 2003 14,400
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Miyazaki)
JAPAN 2005 19,600
Mitsubishi Heavy Metals
(Sendai)
JAPAN 2005 26,400

13. Plasma Processing Summary - APCR Treatment
Provides close to a near zero waste solution in
the treatment of a hazardous waste stream
Technology demonstrated and proven
Vitrification of the inorganic fraction to recover
a dense environmentally stable slag
Plasmarok®
HCl recovered as a product
Commercial plants operational in Japan for
mixed IBA/Fly ash
Ends reliance on landfill; with escalating levels
of cost and taxation

14. Thank You.
Marston Gate
South Marston Park
Swindon SN3 4DE
Tel: +44(0)1793 238500
sales@Tetronics.com