International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 223–224 (2003) 613–625 Combustion and carbonisation exhaust utilisation in electric discharge and its relation to prebiotic chemistry Marcela Morvová a,∗ , Imrich Morva a , Mario Janda a , František Hanic c , Peter Lukáè b a Institute of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics Comenius University, Mlynská dolina F2, 84248 Bratislava, Slovak Republic b Department of Plasma Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics Comenius University, Mlynská dolina F2, 84248 Bratislava, Slovak Republic c Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84219 Bratislava, Slovak Republic Received 30 December 2001; accepted 12 June 2002 Abstract The municipal waste carbonisation inside a high temperature combustion chamber using direct heating by exhaust gas flow in an oxygen free atmosphere is an interesting alternative in the waste management scenario. The process has a lot of similarities with biomass pyrolysis. During carbonisation inside an oven at lower temperatures (∼350 ◦ C) the main process is cracking, producing liquid hydrocarbons as levoglucosane and similar tar compounds, then at higher temperatures (∼650 ◦ C) hydrogen is formed, while at very high temperatures (∼950 ◦ C) carbon char/active carbon is formed instead of ash. The heat from the process can be recuperated. The method for flue gas cleaning with possible application to combustion and carbonisation process uses non-thermal plasma based pilot system for 50–250 m 3 /h of gas flow. The applied method very efficiently cleaned the exhaust gas from a variety of non-wanted compounds, utilising whole combustion exhaust. CO 2 removal efficiency was as high as 40–99%. The process is connected with nitrogen fixation, removal of NO x , VOC, PAH, –SH and SO x , PCDD, PCDF and other is done with high efficiency and without wastewater production. The final solid amino acids condensation product (proteinoid) made in electric discharge seems to be convenient as a nitrogen containing fertiliser. (Int J Mass Spectrom 223–224 (2003) 613–625) © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Combustion chamber; Pyrolysis; Gas discharge; Exhaust cleaning; Fertiliser 1. Introduction Millions of tons of waste are produced world-wide every day. Waste has become a critical problem for in- dustrial society, particularly in big cities and densely populated areas. However, still only about 10% of waste is recycled, most of it goes to landfill (64%) ∗ Corresponding author. or is incinerated (18%). However, disposal capacities continue to decrease in spite of the reduction in the volumes of waste produced. In incineration, (partly) combustible waste, usually containing carbon, reacts with oxygen from air. The oxidation reaction takes place at high temperature, the main products being CO 2 ,H 2 O, some SO 2 and non-combustible residue (ash). Supplemental fuel is required to reach the high temperature needed. Since 1387-3806/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII S1387-3806(02)00935-1