by Rod Hughes

Could interplanetary rocket technology be used to convert dangerous hospital rubbish such as syringes and discarded scalples into a fine sand, apt for surfacing concrete?

Carlos Enrique Alvarado, a student of construction engineering at Costa Rica Technological Institute, brought the proposal to the AD Astra Rocket researchers in Guanacaste. The answer was yes, and that may put this country at the forefront of plasma technology for practical use.

Ad Astra’s rocket lab is dedicated mainly to the development of the rocket engine first proposed by Dr. Franklin Chang, Costa Rican NASA astronaut and physicist. But, intrigued by Alvarado’s idea, their researchers subjected material imported from the United States to 10,000 degree (Celsus) heat in what might be called a “pressure cooker,” more aptly a PEM (Plasma Enhanced Melter.)

The stainless steel caldron, surfaced inside with ceramic insulation to protect it from the intense heat, contains two electrodes to form an electric arc. The fuel is converted into a soup of hot ions, reduced by the heat into its component basic elements. Glass becomes, once more, sillicon–sand, essentially, and a fine product to make a smooth survace over concrete.Voila!

Lest one think that this is a rather prosaic use for what is essentially a rocket engine, Ad Astra spokesman Ronald Chang notes that the public hospitals alone produce 10 to 15 tons of contaminated waste daily in Costa Rica! And treatment is expensive–from $800 to $3,000 per ton. With this elegant solution, refuse can be reduced to 3% of its original mass, perfectly sterilized and ready to be used by constructors.