On type of plasma touch is a cutting machine used in metal working. It uses an arc to heat an inert gas to extreme temperature. It is of great use in working with stainless steels, as a conventional oxygen-acetylene torch will not cut them. This is because an oxy-acetylene torch heats carbon steel to high them, then a rich stream of pure oxy “burns” the carbon steel away. Stainless won’t burn in this way, and the oxy-acetylene flame is not hot enough to really cut stainless. See plasma cutting in wikipedia, it looks to be a good article.
At this time, there is also a firm (or more then one, not sure) that is touting a plasma arc for use in energy generation. The idea is to gasify the “fuel” with an arc in an inert gas environment. Then the resulting fuel gas can have sulfur and other undesirable constituents removed. The fuel gas can then be used in a gas turbine/combined cycle power plant. This is essential an alternative to more “conventional” (but still not really commercial) thermal gasification technologies. The advantage is the the plasma arc works in inert gas, so the oxy free fuel gas is easier to clean and a low grade fuel, such as waste product can, in theory, be used. The draw back, in addition to being an unproven technology, is the large amount of electrical load for the plasma arc.
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