1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette, 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: and I am an editor here at how stuff works 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: dot com. Sitting across from me, as he always does, 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. He who holds the spice 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: controls the galaxy. Oh Dune. Yeah, there you go. Nice 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: that that and we're done today. We're going to talk 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: about something that's inspired by a little listener mail. This 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: listener mail comes from Damon. Damon says, I was just 12 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: wondering how plasma cutter works. Is it something to do 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: with electricity? Yours truly, Damon, Damon. That was very nice 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: and short and to the point. So we're going to 15 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: answer your question. Yes, we're gonna go into more detailed 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: than just the fact that yes, it does use electricity. 17 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: So plasma cutters are a it's just one um one 18 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: use for a plasma torch, and a plasma torch is 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: a device that uses a usually an inert gas uh 20 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: pressurized pushed through a nozzle and at the nozzle, there's 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: an electrode that's shooting off pretty powerful electricity, which turns 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: the gas into what is called the fourth state of 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: matter plasma. Oh wait, no, here in my notes and 24 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: says there are five states and manners solid liquid, gas, 25 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: plasma and New Hampshire. Well there you go. That's the 26 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: fourth state, the fifth state matter. Oh my gosh, you 27 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: get to answer that, listener mail, that's what you have 28 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: just earned for yourself, matter in New Hampshire. Moving on, 29 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: So plasma. Plasma is an ionized gas. We've talked about 30 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,559 Speaker 1: it before on this podcast because it does factor into 31 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: other technologies. But it's a it's a gas that has 32 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: free roaming electrons, which means that it conducts electricity. Um. 33 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: It also can quote unquote burn really really hot. Yes, 34 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, hotter than the surface of 35 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,399 Speaker 1: the sun. Yes, we're talking like six thousand degrees celsius. 36 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: That's um. That's pretty toasty. And uh, the it turns 37 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: out this is really really handy for things like cutting 38 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: through material or um. We're going to get into a 39 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: really cool application in a minute about how you can 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: use a plasma torch to turn garbage into energy. Yes, 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: but let's start's start off slow here. Um, So you're 42 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: using this ionized gas. It's burning at this really high temperature. 43 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: It actually breaks stuff down in a process that we 44 00:02:55,800 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: call molecular dissociation, which literally means that it's starts to 45 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: break down the molecules because the energy that they absorb 46 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: is so great the molecular bonds can no longer hold, right, 47 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: so it comes apart, right because normally there is a 48 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: cloud of electrons uh, circling the nucleus of the atom. 49 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: And at that at that point, the electrons are more 50 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: loosely bound and sometimes split off, right, and you end 51 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: up with with much more basic particles as opposed to molecules. 52 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: And it doesn't use combustion, so that's not it's not 53 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: burning like a traditional torch. Uh. You know, a traditional torch, 54 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: you need a fuel, you need heat, and you need air, yeah, oxygen, 55 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: and you don't need oxygen for uh, for a plasma 56 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: torch to work. Um. And so it's it's using a 57 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: it's using heat in a process that we call pyrolysis. 58 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: All right, now this is when technically now this is 59 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: for organic manner, This is not for inorganic matter. Different 60 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: thing entirely right. So pyrolysis UH is a preceived process 61 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: in which organic matter breaks down and decomposes. Now when 62 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: you apply a plasma torch to organic matter, pyrolysis happens um, 63 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: let's say, on an accelerated basis, like practically instantaneous as 64 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: opposed to taking years and years and years UM. So 65 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: this means that plasma torches are very useful for lots 66 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: of different environments. For example, underwater, you could use a 67 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: plasma torch because again you're just shooting out gas and 68 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: you're injecting it with electrons essentially, So you could use 69 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: a plasma torch to cut through material underwater and not 70 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: have to worry about the fact that oxygen. You know, 71 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 1: you have a real hard time lighting a traditional torch 72 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: on the water um. And it's really good for cutting 73 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: through pretty much anything. I mean, at that temperature, it's 74 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: gonna managed to make its way through tons and tons 75 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: of different stuff. So we do find them very useful 76 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: in lots of different applications. And the one that I 77 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: really wanted to talk about, which really it goes beyond 78 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: the plasma cutters, which you know, that's interesting enough, but 79 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: I really wanted to talk about plasma waste converters. Okay, 80 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: do you want to just jump into that then sure, 81 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: Okay we can. I mean unless you had something more 82 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: to say specifically about plasma cutters. Well, no, I was 83 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: I was going to bring up when we started to 84 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: learn about them, because it really wasn't even all that 85 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: long ago during World War Two that they discovered that 86 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: this could be, that this could be possible. Um. Basically 87 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: what was going on was, uh, you know, the American 88 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: war effort required a lot of different kinds of machinery 89 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: to be fabricated very quickly, and they discovered this, uh, 90 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:49,679 Speaker 1: this arc process that we've been describing basically by uh, 91 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: you know, just the techniques they were using then too. 92 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: They started off with you know, arc welding, and uh 93 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: they were able to uh they realized that you know, 94 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 1: charging the gas with the aren't made a barrier around 95 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: where the weld was UM, and it predicted it from oxidizing, 96 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: which is very useful. UM. And uh it also made 97 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: very very clean cuts, which is why they they're using 98 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: it for uh plasma torches or using plasma torches for 99 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: you know, cutting purposes. And then um, you know, in 100 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties. Basically what would happen is, uh they 101 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: realized that once you speed up the flow of gas 102 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: um and cutting down the size of the hole through 103 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: which it is being released, you could it would keep 104 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: higher temperatures than any other type of of welder. And um, 105 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: you know, that's exactly when they started cutting was because 106 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: you know, they discovered the properties of using this method 107 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: uh in in the welding process. But then once they 108 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: started experimenting with it some more and found out that 109 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: it makes it's awesome for cutting, and it can cut 110 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: through all kinds of different heavy duty metals that you 111 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to cut so finely using any other process, 112 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: and so simply really um so that's why it's so 113 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: so awesome for that. I just wanted to touch on 114 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: the history of it a little bit because, um, you know, 115 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: this is not something we've known about for you know, 116 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: a long time like some of the other technologies we 117 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: talk about. Sure, and it's only been a couple of 118 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: decades since someone thought to to apply it to waste management. Yeah, 119 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: that's even newer. So I'm sure you're all aware that 120 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: that waste management is a huge issue. You know, it's 121 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: it's a problem in a lot of different communities. We 122 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: talk about pollution, we talk about the the need to 123 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: create large landfills dumping sites. Then of course there are 124 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: the big dumping sites out in the ocean, so we 125 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: don't really like to think about, but they're out there. Um. 126 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: And we've you know, people have tried to come up 127 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: with lots of different ways of solving this problem, everything 128 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: from just cutting down the amount of waste we generate, 129 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: which you know, that's part of it, that's important, big 130 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: part of it. But but we're getting new people every day, 131 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: and even if you start cutting back the amount of 132 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: materials you're you're consuming, the number of people that are 133 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: added to the planet kind of makes that a very 134 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: slow process. I mean, eventually it all catches up to 135 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: you again. So there are other things you can look at, 136 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: like you know that people have tried to burn trash, 137 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: but of course that often will generate other kinds of pollution, 138 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: including pollutants that will eventually cause acid rain in the future. Um, 139 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: and that's clearly not good either. And then there are other, 140 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: you know, semi outlandish proposals like shooting it off into 141 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: space so that we you know, we stop polluting the Earth. 142 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: We'll just start polluting space everything else not Granted, space 143 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: is big, I mean really big for your stuff. There's 144 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: always space, and at any rate, assuming you don't want 145 00:08:57,679 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: to just you know, find new places to throw st 146 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: of a way, you want to find a way of 147 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: getting rid of it. And that's where plasma waiste converters 148 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: come in. Now, a plasma waist converter has at its 149 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,719 Speaker 1: heart a plasma torch. Yeah. Now the plasma torch is 150 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: inside a furnace. Uh. And inside that furnace, what you 151 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: do is you you dump garbage and there Uh. Normally 152 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: the garbage has to go through a process where it 153 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: gets crunched up into smaller bits first. But once it 154 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: goes into the furnace, the plasma torch causes it to 155 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: to transform. And there are two different transformations that happen 156 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: to the organic material. You have volatilization, also known as gasification. 157 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: The organic material gets turned into gases, synthetic gases or 158 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 1: sin gas, right, and then you've got the inorganic compounds. 159 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: So anything that's not carbon based, essentially is what you're 160 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: talking about here. Um, it becomes vitrified, turns into slag. 161 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: It kind of looks like law. When it's coming out 162 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: of a plasma waste converter, you know, it's a bright 163 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: reddish orange glowing liquid material and as it cools, it 164 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: becomes if you were to allow it to air cool, 165 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: it turns into this kind of hard, glassy, rocky substance. 166 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: It kind of looks like um, obsidian lava connection Again, Yeah, 167 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: it looks a lot like obsidian. So if you've ever 168 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: seen a volcanic rock, that's a lot like what the 169 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: the the cooled version of slag from a plasma waste 170 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: converter looks like and um. So that's so you've got 171 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: the volatilized material and the vitrified material. And uh, actually, 172 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: depending on how you cool that slag, it can turn 173 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: into many different formats. Like air cooled, it looks like 174 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: those little rocks like I was mentioning. If you cool 175 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: it with water, it turns into these little pebbles. So 176 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: they don't like it doesn't look like a little rock. 177 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: It doesn't like rocks is in you know, jagged edges 178 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: or anything like that. It's just it's almost like a 179 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: fine sand. And then if you blow compressed air through it, 180 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: which I would not recommend anyone try to do if 181 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: they had somehow managed to build a plasma waist converter, 182 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: because it's scary to look at. I was I was 183 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: going to say, how many, just how many of our 184 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,439 Speaker 1: listeners do you think actually have a plasma waste converter 185 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: in their backyard? You know? I mean, it's good that 186 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: you're warning pits, but I will admit it's a hell 187 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: of a do it yourself project. Okay, but you know, 188 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: just saying. But anyway, if you were to somehow find 189 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: a way where you could blow compressed air through the 190 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: stream up slag as it's coming out of the plasma 191 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: waste converter, it turns into this very very thin material 192 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: almost feels kind of like cotton or insulation, and uh 193 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: it's called rock wool and um it's I actually saw 194 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: a video of this stuff being made. It's just these 195 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: two guys standing around. Guy from Georgia Tech actually someone 196 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: I chatted with quite a bit when I was writing 197 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: an article about this um. But the video of him 198 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: blowing compressed air through this molten stream of material was 199 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: really impressive and kind of scary because it's just these 200 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,679 Speaker 1: two guys standing there building compressed air through material that's 201 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: so hot that it would do you serious arm if 202 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: you touched it. Right. Um, but but it turns into 203 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: rock wall, which turns out to be a really good 204 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: insulator and uh and could be a way of making 205 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,599 Speaker 1: money off plasma waste converters. But well, we'll talk a 206 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: little bit more about how they can generate in cash. 207 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: So anyway you get this, you put the garbage through 208 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: this stuff, those are the problems. You get the end 209 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: gas and the slag, and you end up reducing the 210 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: amount of weight and space of that garbage significantly. One 211 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: other benefit to using plasma waste converter to get rid 212 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: of your stuff is that, uh, you can treat all 213 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: kinds of garbage in there that you might not otherwise 214 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: want buried in landfills that because of uh, you know, 215 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: it could be dangerou For example, medical waste which could 216 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: be infectious. Um. Basically, medical waste can be treated in 217 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: a plasma waste converter and it you know it's inert 218 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: once it's done, because you know it it breaks materials 219 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: down to the point where they are no longer what 220 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: they once were, and you know it's no longer dangerous. However, 221 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: there are limits to how not dangerous things can be. 222 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: One of the things that you cannot just grab a 223 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: bucket and throw into the plasma waste converter is spent 224 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: nuclear rods. That is what they call in scientific terms bad. 225 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: So if you are to do it yourself er and 226 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: you've built your plasma wast converter in your backyard, not 227 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: only should you not blow compressed air through the slag, 228 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: but also please don't put any spent nuclear rods in there. Yeah, 229 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: let's be responsible. Okay. Then, so you know I mentioned 230 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: that the weight and the volume are reduced. Yes, it's 231 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,599 Speaker 1: actually reduced by a very significant amount. I mean, you 232 00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: granted a lot of the stuff is being turned into gas, 233 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: and then a lot of it is being turned into 234 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: the slag, and the slag is much more dense than 235 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: the original material usually that you put through this. So 236 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: in general, uh, the weight of the slag ends up 237 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,199 Speaker 1: being about the weight of the original waste you put 238 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: in there, and the volume is five cent so in 239 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: other words, it takes up much less space. It's very dense. 240 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: Um Often the slag, if it's dried so that becomes 241 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: the rocky substance, could be used in in building materials, 242 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: so like concrete or even just just using it as 243 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: you know gravel really. Um. But the neat thing about 244 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: these these plasma waste converters, now there are on a 245 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: whole lot of them out there right now, there's only 246 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: a few. There's a couple in Japan, and there's one 247 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: that was being built in Florida. I actually haven't looked 248 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: to see how the progress has gone with that one. 249 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: It should have been operational by now. Um. But these 250 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: the really cool thing about these is that not only 251 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: would they eventually be able to taken all the incoming 252 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: garbage coming into the landfill to process, but some of 253 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: them operated such a huge capacity We're talking thousands of 254 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: tons of garbage every day that not only could they 255 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: handle all the incoming garbage, but could actually make a 256 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: dent in the existing garbage at the landfill. Why are 257 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: you going around denting garbage? I'm just pointing out that 258 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: if we were to invest in this technology, eventually we 259 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: could reclaim landfills. You could actually end up using them, 260 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: uh enough so that the landfill is gone because you've 261 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: you've consumed all the garbage in there. Now granted you 262 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: would still be getting income and garbage, so it's not 263 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,359 Speaker 1: like you could just shut down. You know, you wouldn't. 264 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: These these aren't like, uh, these aren't facilities that you 265 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: you start up and then like twenty years later they're 266 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: insignificant or uh are obsolete. No, you would still be 267 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: taking incoming garbage and and still gasifying or vitrifying it. 268 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: But you could reclaim all those landfills. That's pretty impressive 269 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: considering that. Yeah, I mean, think about all the different 270 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: communities that really fight to have to to to prevent 271 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: landfills moving in. Um. It would be a good way 272 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: to reclaim all that land use it for something else 273 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: once it's cleaned. UM. And one of the really cool 274 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: uh ideas I saw was too you know, if building 275 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: a whole plasma waist center is too much money, um, 276 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: you could always make a portable version. Oh yeah, this 277 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: one's kind of scary. So here's the portable idea. The 278 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: portable ideas that you go to a landfill, you drill 279 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: down into the landfill, You insert into the hole a 280 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: plasma torch on the end of a very long pole. 281 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: You cap the hole at the top with a chamber 282 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: that can capture escaping gases and yet light that sucker 283 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: up seriously. Yeah, the landfill itself becomes the furnace for 284 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: the plasma waste converter. Instead of building a furnace around 285 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: the torch, the landfill itself access and furnace. And again, 286 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: since you're not using combustion, you don't set fire to everything. 287 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 1: There's no oxygen down there, at least not enough to 288 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: actually create a fire. You're just you're consuming the landfill 289 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: from the inside out. Yeah, I had no idea that 290 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: was possible. Yeah, and I don't know that anyone's actually 291 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: done it yet, but I saw a really cool presentation 292 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: of it at Georgia Tech. Well. Um, I would also 293 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: assume that since plasma cutters are available for people to buy, 294 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: that this is something you really wouldn't want to try. 295 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: That you theoretically could possibly do, you know, try to 296 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 1: burn your own garbage. This would be seeingly bad idea. 297 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: And I'll tell you exactly why it's a bad idea, Okay, 298 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: beside the fact that you would possibly maim and or 299 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: kill yourself. Yeah. Um, the gas that's given off the 300 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: organic gas is not necessarily harmless. Now, we talked about 301 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: how the materials get broken down into into very inert 302 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: uh forms that mainly pertains to the slag, all right, 303 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: so that when the slag comes out. One of the 304 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: one of the big concerns about plasma waste converters is 305 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: there's a lot of stuff that's in garbage. And there's mercury, 306 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: there's lead, there's all these materials that eventually, you know 307 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: that you only break them down so far, right, it's 308 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: not like you can change the atoms. Um. Well, there 309 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: was a worry that maybe the slag, the stuff could 310 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: leach out of the slag get into the groundwater, and 311 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: then you really just traded one problem for another, really 312 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: serious problems. It looks like the material doesn't leach out anything, 313 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: so that concern is gone. But stuff that turns into 314 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: a gas that is toxic that remains. And it's only 315 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: through a process of scrubbing that gas by putting it 316 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: through a series of filters that you start taking out 317 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: the harmful elements that could otherwise, uh, you know, cause 318 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: serious damage and or kill people. Right, But it's it's 319 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 1: mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide off, but there's other stuff 320 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: that can be carbon monoxide is not the healthiest stuff 321 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: in the world either. But granted, you know a little 322 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 1: whiff of it's not gonna instantaneously kill you, but yes 323 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: it is. It is toxic, but yeah, that's why if 324 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: you look at a full plasma waste converter system, there 325 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: is a after you. After you've burned everything, there's still 326 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,239 Speaker 1: more to the system. Besides that. You usually have at 327 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: the front of the system, you've got a conveyor belt 328 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: carries the garbage to some grinders which grind it down 329 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 1: into tiny bits. The tiny bits go into the furnace. 330 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: The furnace burns that stuff up or melts it. I 331 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: guess it's better way of putting it. Gasifies it. The 332 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: gas goes into one part of the system, and the 333 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: slag gets drained off. Now the gas usually we'll go 334 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: through a cleaning system like I mentioned, where it will 335 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: go through uh usually a spray of water which helps 336 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 1: cool it down because this gas is incredibly hot after 337 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,440 Speaker 1: coming out of the furnace, and then it goes through 338 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: it also scrubs the gas out of some pollutants and 339 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: some particulates that are usually included in the gas. And 340 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: then I will go through a filter that has um 341 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: base in it. That's because the gas can have acidic 342 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: elements in it and of course, when you mix an 343 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: acid with the base, what do you get? Um? Shoot, 344 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: pH seven? What is that? All right? It's neutral. But 345 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: the more important thing is you get a salt basse 346 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: plus acid equal salt. Um. That's okay, that's okay. The 347 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:51,919 Speaker 1: only reason I know it is because it's in the 348 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: paragraph right in front of me. I forgot that. It's 349 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: been a long time since I have had high school chemistry. Um. 350 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,959 Speaker 1: But yes, all of our listeners, of course we're screaming 351 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: it out. I know they were, like them are in 352 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 1: high school chemistry right now. Hey, guys, how's it going anyway? So, yeah, 353 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: you get you get a neutral salt as a result, 354 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,919 Speaker 1: and uh, it goes through this cleaning process. It's usually 355 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: several steps so that you have ended up with a 356 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: synthetic gas that can actually be used as a fuel. 357 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: So now we're getting to why our how a plasma 358 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,400 Speaker 1: waste converter can be profitable because we we know that 359 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,879 Speaker 1: environmentally this sounds like a fantastic idea. I mean, you 360 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: get rid of all this garbage, you end up with 361 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: some synthetic gas that can be used as a fuel. 362 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: You end up with some slag that's a nert it 363 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: sounds like a dream come true, right, more or less, 364 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: I mean better than a bunch of big pile of 365 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,159 Speaker 1: garbage sitting out back. Right. So, but we know that 366 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: the world revolves around making cash money pin Is Nickels, Dames, Cordas, 367 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: dollar bills, hundred dollar bills. I bet no one got 368 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: that reference anyway, So it is all about the Benjamin's. 369 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: It is all about there you go, they'll get that reference. 370 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: So anyway, the the the way that they can make 371 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,679 Speaker 1: cash is that one. There's this, uh, there's these this 372 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: thing called tipping fees. Now. Tipping fees refer to the 373 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: amount of money or the money that people have to 374 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: pay in order to be able to um to cart 375 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: garbage to a landfill. All right, well, right now, waste 376 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: management's kind of almost a monopoly, so the landfills can 377 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: pretty much dictate the tipping fees. There's no real competition there, 378 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: there's no incentive to lower tipping fees. Populations are growing 379 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: and consumption continues to grow. So really, uh, these these 380 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: fees are getting higher and higher. It's getting more and 381 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: more expensive to to just pay to have garbage ship 382 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: to landfills with plasma waste converters, you're not worried about 383 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: running out of space anymore. In fact, you're making space. 384 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: So the tipping fees could be negotiated to a lower level. 385 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: I'm sure that would make the waste management companies really happy. Yeah, yeah, 386 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: when it comes down to making money, and it's but 387 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: then it's it's also stopped making money. It's also really 388 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: hard for them to justify, uh, protesting, because protesting the 389 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: fact that hey, we're saving the world but we're not 390 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: making as much money doesn't get you a lot of sympathy, 391 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: as it turns out. But anyway, so they could negotiate 392 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: tipping fees, and tipping fees would be part of what 393 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: how they would make money. They could also sell the slag, however, 394 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: in whatever format, whether it was being used as a 395 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: uh you know, like a gravel or a building material, 396 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: or if they were making rock wool, they could sell 397 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: it like installation. It's apparently extremely effective as installation um. 398 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 1: And then with the gas, they could actually generate enough 399 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 1: gas from destroying this garbage to create fuel to run 400 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: the facility itself. So in that sense they don't need 401 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: to consume power from the power grid, and in fact 402 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: they could potentially create enough gas to sell power back 403 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: to the power grid. That would be nice because you 404 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: would uh generate this gas, you could run a generator 405 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: and then generate electricity and add it to the power grid. Um. 406 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:17,679 Speaker 1: A lot of people have asked me in the past, 407 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: does this mean that it's some sort of magical kind 408 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: of of way of generating energy, because you think about that, 409 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,159 Speaker 1: sounds like how can something generate more energy than it 410 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,959 Speaker 1: takes to run it? Um. The answer to that is 411 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: it's it's using fuel. It's just all all it's doing 412 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: is converting fuel from one format into another. Um, it's 413 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: not you know, it's not like a perpetual motion machine. 414 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,360 Speaker 1: It's kind of like the idea of well, if an 415 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: oil drill consumed more energy than it generated by gathering fuel, 416 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: it would make no sense to drill for oil, right, 417 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: because what you do, think, yeah, because you'd have to 418 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 1: pour more energy into the drill then you would get 419 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: out of the fuel your Right, it's the same sort 420 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: of thing. Think of it like an oil drill. It's 421 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: not like a perpetual motion machine. It's more like an 422 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: oil drill because you're gathering fuel up from garbage. Right. 423 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: So um, yeah, that's the way that they can make money. Now, 424 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: getting the initial investment to build one of these things 425 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: has been tricky because they are expensive. How could that 426 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: possibly be? So? Yeah, well, mostly because they're all customized. Yeah, 427 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: that's true. Um. One of the things in the article 428 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: on on plasma waste converters it is the fact that 429 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: every single plant that there is in existence now is 430 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: custom so it's all unique. Yeah. And it turns out 431 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: designing a facility from the ground up costs lots of money. 432 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: Does seem pricey? Yes? Yeah, And um, well I'm sure 433 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,120 Speaker 1: you could get some really nice parts with clean edges 434 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: if you use plasmic cutters. Well. And it's also a 435 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: matter of educating the communities about what the plasma waste 436 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: converters doing, the benefits of it, and any potential drawbacks, 437 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: because you have to be completely upfront about that. I mean, 438 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: otherwise people are gonna worry about it. I mean, let's 439 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: put it this way. If you were told, like if 440 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: you had no knowledge of plasma waste converters at all, 441 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: and you were told, hey, I want to build this 442 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,199 Speaker 1: facility that at its heart is going to have a 443 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: torch that burns bright heart hotter than the surface of 444 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: the sun. It's going to give off gas which could 445 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: potentially kill you, and molten slag um, And we're just 446 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: gonna throw your garbage in there. You all right with that? 447 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: You might have a little pause for right, I mean, 448 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: unless you just had lots of garbage and you're like, dude, 449 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,880 Speaker 1: anything to get rid of this stuff. Yes, but yeah, 450 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,479 Speaker 1: so it's it's a little intimidating at first too. It 451 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: takes a little time to understand this. But just to 452 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: give one last little bit of of um kind of statistics. 453 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,119 Speaker 1: This is what Chuck would do if he were here. Ah, 454 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: he's the statistic guy. Uh. The the proposed facility in 455 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: flow its supposed to be at St. Lucy County. Like 456 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: I said, I hadn't looked to see I should have 457 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: checked to see if they had built it and should 458 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: be up and running by now. Um. But the idea 459 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: was that it would be able to process up to 460 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: a thousand tons of garbage each day and generate sixty 461 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 1: seven megawatt hours of power each day with a net 462 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: output of thirty three megawatt hours because the course has 463 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: to consume some to keep going um, and that it 464 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: could eventually scale up to three thousand tons of ways 465 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 1: per day by adding a couple of modular units to 466 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 1: the already existing ones, and that um that potentially it 467 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: would be able to completely eliminate the landfill in less 468 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: than two decades and it could power thousand homes. Serious, Yeah, 469 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: just from garbage. So that's pretty cool, I think. Okay, so, 470 00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 1: our our sister site Tree Hugger says that the plant 471 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: in St. Lucy County, Florida is expected to be online 472 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:09,640 Speaker 1: by not the future, but it hasn't happened yet. Well, 473 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: I look forward to reading more about that because I 474 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: find the whole the whole model to be fascinating. Yeah, 475 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: it's pretty neat and potentially a real game changer, but 476 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: you definitely don't want to be right next to it. Well, 477 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: I definitely don't want to be in the furnace. That 478 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: wouldn't be in there for very long. Yeah, and I 479 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: just wonder. I imagine you'd probably have to stay pretty 480 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: far away from it. I'm sure they have insulation, but yes, 481 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: actually they are very heavily insulated. They have water cooling 482 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,440 Speaker 1: systems that run through Because you think about that, like 483 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: if it burtens hotter than the surface of the sun. 484 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: What the heck could withstand that kind of heat? You know, 485 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: just just sort of a trivia fact really, but something 486 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: that was in the article we didn't I don't think 487 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: you mentioned the slag, which isn't immediately drained off, can 488 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: actually help continue to heat the furnace. Yes, which is 489 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: which is also pretty neat because once it's converted, it's 490 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: already producing energy heat energy, and it's well producing it, 491 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: it's maintaining and I guess, and actually the heat itself 492 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: can be recaptured and used to generate or to turn well, 493 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: it ends up converting water into steam, which then turns turbines, 494 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: which rates energy electricity specifically. And uh so, yeah, there 495 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: are a lot of different ways that you could create 496 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: electricity using this system, all by just you know, getting 497 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: rid of some garbage. And we don't have too much 498 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: of that running around anyway. We try to trim it 499 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: from this podcast whenever possible. Well, that's that's why I've 500 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: been missing from the last six anyway, Well I have, 501 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: I have. Now we've we've done plasma cutters. We talked 502 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: about plasma waste converters. I want to move on to 503 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: a second round of listener mail now, This listener mail 504 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: specifically comes from Brian, although we received other people asking 505 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: the same question, including Dante, so I wanted to give 506 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: a shout out to both of them. The question is 507 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 1: you spoke a lot about how listening to music with 508 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: earbuds can lead to hear loss if volume is too high. 509 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: But what about listening to speech like the tech stuff podcast. 510 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: Oh well, I may lose hearing, but I would gain 511 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: smarts Brian. Yes, Brian, any loud noise, especially a sustained 512 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: loud noise, even even if there are short breaks like 513 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: in speech, if you listen to it over a stretch 514 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: of time, like for instance, the typical tech stuff podcast, 515 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: you can cause hearing damage. Does not have to be music, 516 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: does not have to be a C d C, does 517 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: not have to be a jackhammer or jet engine. Yeah, 518 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: loud noise bad for years, right, So just in general, 519 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: just try and keep those ears safe. Okay, And if 520 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: any of you have any questions, comments, you have a 521 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: topic you want to suggest, you just want to say hello, 522 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: you can write us. Our address is tech stuff at 523 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com and Chris and I will 524 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: taught you again really soon. If you're a tech stuff 525 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: and be sure to check us out on Twitter or 526 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: tech Stuff hs WSR handle, and you can also find 527 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: us on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash tech Stuff 528 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: h s W. For more on this and thousands of 529 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: other topics, visit how Stuff Works dot com and be 530 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: sure to check out the new tech Stuff blog now 531 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: on the House Stuff Works homepage, brought to you by 532 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 1: the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you