Processing of biomedical waste in plasma gasifier

•Thermodynamic analysis of biomedical waste plasma gasification is fulfilled.•Experiments of various origins biomedical waste plasma gasification are fulfilled.•Conditions of biomedical waste plasma processing are determined.•The maximum synthesis gas yield was achieved at a temperature below 1650 K.•No harmful impurities were found in the plasma gasification of biomedical wastes. The problem of treatment of household and biomedical waste containing toxic substances is becoming increasingly important. In contrast to the conventional incineration, plasma gasification of the waste provides reliable destruction of highly toxic dioxins, benzo(a)pyrene and furans. This article presents the results of thermodynamic analysis and experiments on gasification of the waste of various origins in the plasma reactor. The calculations have shown that the maximum yield of synthesis gas in the waste plasma gasification in the air and steam medium was achieved at a temperature not higher than 1600 K. It is shown that in the process of air-plasma and steam-plasma gasification of bone tissue, it is possible to obtain synthesis gas with concentrations 53.4 and 84.9 vol.% having heat of combustion 3510 and 5664 kJ/kg, respectively. In the air and steam plasma gasification of household waste a high-calorific synthesis gas with concentrations 82.4 and 94.5 vol.%, respectively, can be obtained. Its heat of combustion amounts to 13,620 and 18,497 kJ/kg respectively for air and steam gasification. A comparison between the experiment and the calculations showed a good agreement. According to the results of investigations of the waste plasma gasification, no harmful impurities were detected. From the waste organic and mineral mass, respectively, high-calorific synthesis gas and a neutral slag were obtained.