Analysis of optical emission spectroscopy from arcs for plasma vitrification of hazardous wastes

Summary form only given. In this work emission spectra in the range 350-1100 nm were recorded during the vitrification of waste with a system of twin plasma torches operated at an average power of 30 kW. The obtained spectra are rich in atomic lines and diatomic molecular bands superimposed on a blackbody continuum. The species concentrations in the plasma were obtained by comparison of the experimental spectra with synthetic ones generated by computer. Using these results, spectroscopic diagnosis could be very useful to have a control on-line of the process. The spectroscopy measurements also provide estimations for the plasma and melted material temperatures.