RF Thermal Plasma Treatment of Waste Glass: Design of the Experiment with 3-D Modelling and Glass Reutilization in Composite Materials

Reclaimed glass powders from fluorescent lamps are sieved in two particle size ranges after Hg purification and are subjected to thermal plasma in-flight treatment by injection into the discharge of a Tekna PL-35 plasma torch and reaction chamber as part of a source operated at 3MHz with a maximum power of 25kW, with Ar as plasma and carrier gas and N2 as sheath gas. The sieved powders and the plasma treated ones have been characterized by powder XRD and particle size analysis in order to verify if the plasma treatment can induce modification in the minera-logical and physical characteristics. The spherical shape of the particles has been analyzed by scanning electron mi-croscopy. Moreover, this technique has allowed to verify if the plasma treatment can induce modification of the (qualitative) chemical composition of the powder. Results for various operating conditions and injection probe posi-tions are presented. The spherical powders have been then introduced in thermoplastic polymers in place of glass spheres usually used, and the results are compared to each others. The samples are characterized by mechanical tests (flexural strength) and microstructural analysis (SEM) in order to verify the differences in materials properties ob-tainable by mean of conventional and plasma assisted processes.