FAQ: WASTE TYPES TREATED

Question: What kind of materials can be treated with a PEM™? Can each type of material listed below be handled by the PEM?

Answer: We have not tested PEM™ systems on all materials so it is not possible to provide a complete list. PEM™ systems can be designed to process solids, liquids or gasses and combinations of these waste forms. Testing completed to date, by IET and others, demonstrates that PEM™ systems can successfully process municipal waste, incinerator ash, waste contaminated with dioxins, medical waste, tires, asbestos, automotive shredder fluff, metals, plastics, glass, paper, electronic parts (such as computers and circuit boards), computer monitors, construction materials, laboratory wastes, laboratory animal carcasses, radioactive wastes, biological warfare agents, and chemical and petrochemical process wastes, including chlorinated compounds and amino compounds. When ceramics and graphite materials are processed in PEM™ systems, the processing rate is typically reduced and energy requirements are increased. Unlike municipal and medical wastes that require little, if any, size reduction of the waste for the purpose of processing, ceramics and graphite materials may require size reduction prior to processing. The requirement for size reduction would depend upon the amount and form of ceramic or graphite material present in the waste.

PEM™ systems have the ability to process PCBs, CFCs and other chlorinated liquids as well as non-chlorinated organic and aqueous liquids.

PEM™ systems designed for processing wastes containing chlorine and fluorine require construction with different and more expensive materials than systems for processing wastes that do not contain these elements. In addition to our own design engineering staff, IET works closely with design and construction engineering companies with extensive experience in addressing the challenges associated with the aggressive and corrosive nature of certain chemical compounds.

The design of PEM™ systems can be modified to provide for the processing of gases, including nerve gasses, chemical warfare agents, CF4. Dioxins are not typically gasses but can be processed successfully in a PEM™.

Question: Is there any substance that a PEM™ system can't treat? If there is, please be specific.

Answer: Because of the very high temperatures achieved in the plasma arc and the low volume of gasses flowing through the system, we have not yet identified any wastes that cannot be successfully treated by a PEM™. Some wastes, such as explosives, rockets, chemical warfare agents, biological warfare agents, radioactive wastes and other highly toxic or dangerous wastes require the design of waste preparation and handling systems that assure complete and safe containment prior to processing. We believe some temperature sensitive explosives will require slurrying in appropriate liquids to allow their safe introduction in the PEM™ system.

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