Thermo- And Photo-Oxidation In A Liquid Treatment System Using Submerged Plasma

Radioactive liquid organic wastes are very various and produced in different quantities. Some of them are treated through specific processes when others are still waiting from outlet to be destroyed and stabilized. An organic liquid incineration process (ELIPSE) involving a non-transferred plasmatorch working under a water column has been developed 1. The ELIPSE process destroys the pure organic liquids and reduces the amount of organic matter remaining in the aqueous solution by means of the thermal or radiative properties of plasma. Preliminary tests have shown how efficient the process is for the destruction of the organic liquids when they are directly fed in the plasma hearth. Process efficiency, during the treatment of a mixture of tributyl phosphate (TBP) and dodecane, is given by mineralization rate which is greater than 99.9% for feed rate up to 5 L/h. Extensive researches have been performed to assess the ability of the submerged plasma to destroy the remaining organic matters either by reinjecting them with the aqueous solution into the plasma or by using the UV ray coming from the plasma itself.