FR2721692A1 - Processing polymer containing waste e.g. tyres - Google Patents

Abstract

Tyres (T) broken up in a crusher (1) and mixed with non-combustible materials (I) are fed into a reactor (4) where they pass downwards through heating, pyrolysis (5), coking (6), combustion (7) and cooling (8) zones. The solid residue (R) is withdrawn at a selected rate to stabilise the level of the combustion zone (7). A counterflow of gas is generated by injecting an oxidizing agent (A) into the bottom of the reactor and withdrawing a gaseous pyrolysis product (G) from he top of the reactor. The tyre pieces inputted are relatively large, 25-300 mm, and pile up gravitationally. The feed-in rate of gasifying agent, mass ratio between gasifying agent and consumption of feed stock, the composition of gasifying agent and/or the composition of the feed stock are adjusted so the max. temp. in the reactor is 800-1700 deg C. and the gaseous discharge product temp. is less than 350 deg C. pref. 300 deg C, most pref. 250 deg C..

Description

DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a method for the treatment of combustible waste such as used tires and scrap of similar polymers, which contain gum, by pyrolyzing the polymer part of the tires so as to produce combustible gas and products resulting from the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons. This process can be used to treat and environmentally dispose of accumulated used tires and similar polymeric waste.

 The annual accumulation of used tires worldwide exceeds 200 million. They are produced in increasing quantities, while there is no economical and ecological method for their elimination or treatment. Only a small fraction of used tires is renovated, or transformed into secondary rubber by grinding or by dissolving technologies. The direct combustion of tires is generally dangerous for the environment.

 Used tires accumulate in large quantities in landfills, aggravating future environmental problems, or are directly incinerated. In addition, used tires contain a number of valuable components and the tires could serve as a stock of these materials, once separated. The reprocessing of polymer waste, including used tires, is an important problem.

 Numerous processes are known for producing pyrolysis oils from gums, including tires, by thermal decomposition thereof. The processes differ in the way heat is applied to used tires, in the use of devulcanization catalysts, in the introduction of oxygen for oxidative distillation, in the conditions imposed on the size of the pieces used in the treatment. , by the means for loading the tires and unloading the products, and by the process temperature regimes.

 US-A-3,823,233 and US-A-4,740,270 disclose distillation processes having low productivity and low energy efficiency, both requiring an external source of energy or consuming gas product in the process. In addition, these processes usually produce large quantities of low-quality carbon black with no commercial value.

 The processes are still known which involve the combustion and successive gasification, layer by layer, of solid organic fuels in vertical ovens, in a counter-current of oxidizing gas.

For example, particular implementations of these methods are known from US-A-2 796 390 and
US-A-2,798,032 concerning the treatment of oil shales. The general principle of gasification of solid organic fuels subjected to a counter current is described below.

A gasifying agent containing oxygen and optionally water and / or carbon dioxide enters the combustion zone, where the oxygen reacts with the solid carbonaceous fuel (incineration) at temperatures typically between 900 and 1500 "C. The gasifying agent is introduced into the reactor against the current of the solid organic fuel so that the oxidizing gas passes at least partially through a layer of solid non-combustible products of the gasification (ash)
This gives an area where the oxidizing gas is preheated and the ash is cooled before discharging.

 Oxygen is completely consumed in the combustion zone and hot gases produced by combustion (including carbon dioxide and water) pass through another layer of solid fuel in which a reduction zone is established, where water and carbon dioxide react with carbonaceous fuel, producing combustible gases. The heat from the hot combustion gases is partially consumed in these reduction reactions. The temperature of the gas decreases as it passes through the solid fuel and transfers its sensible heat to the latter. The organic fuel heated by the gas stream is pyrolyzed, producing carbon, tar, oils, and combustible gases.

 The gas produced is directed through the newly loaded fuel in order to cool the gas and to preheat and dry the fuel. Finally, the gas produced (containing aqueous vapors and hydrocarbons, oils and tars) is removed for later use.

Tires fall into the class of solid organic fuels that can be processed using these techniques. Tires and related waste have the following characteristics to consider
They have a characteristic of form and
size, usually contain cables
metallic,
pieces of tires may partially
melt at temperatures of 150 to 400 "C and
agglomerate, and
they contain characteristic additives,
know, zinc oxide which can have a
commercial value as a product of treatment,
and sulfur which is a product pollutant
final.

 The propensity of tires to agglomerate is a major difficulty in pyrolysis treatment because it tends to interrupt the flow of gas through the reactor and the descent of the tire load.

 Some processes are known based on the partial combustion of solid organic matter from tires.

 A particular solution to this problem is proposed in US-A-4 732 091, according to which the fuel (which may consist of tires) is loaded into the upper part of a vertical oven. From there, the fuel charge moves at a rate controlled by a system of horizontal movable grates through a succession of chambers where its pyrolysis and then its combustion are carried out in a counter-current of gas-air-vapor gasifying agent. This process makes it possible to gasify tires, the grids intended to deagglomerate the load during treatment, thus ensuring its permeability to gases. The grids also make it possible to control the rate at which the charge passes through the successive zones or chambers. The main problem with this process is the presence of movable grids. In high temperature areas, the movable grids will inevitably wear out quickly. Otherwise, dust and tar particles will settle on the movable structures of the reactor, thus hampering its proper functioning. The gas produced leaves the reactor at a temperature around 430-540 "C. The temperature of the combustion zone establishes between 870 and 930" C. This process provides a high combustion temperature, and therefore a high calorific value of the gas produced. At the same time, the temperature at the outlet of the reactor is high.

 This can be advantageous for treating certain wastes which give very little or no condensable oils, but if the objective is to produce pyrolysis oils, this treatment produces them in a form which is difficult to handle. It is in fact difficult to cool the produced gas further since the unsaturated hydrocarbons polymerize at temperatures above 300 "C, and then form deposits in the conduits.

 WO-A-92/01 767 teaches to pyrolyze in a vertical combustion reactor against the current, used tires shredded into fragments of size between 12 and 50 mm. Pyrolysis is carried out by partial combustion of the carbon residue from pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis oil is said to serve as a plasticizer for rubber compounds. The oxidant is introduced into the combustion zone in a substoichiometric quantity, to keep the temperature of the combustion gases emerging from the combustion zone below 270 ° C. This produces gas leaving at a temperature below 1700C. , gaseous product is collected at low temperature, but at the cost of a joint production of low quality carbon black, and, because of the low pyrolysis temperature, at the price of a very slow treatment rate.

 US-A-4,588,477 teaches to establish a fluidized bed from tires shredded into pieces of 25 mm and less, mixed with non-combustible solid materials in the form of pieces of 18 to 25 mm maximum size, within of a gasifying agent counter current. The introduction of incombustible solid materials opposes the agglomeration of the parts and promotes the exchange of solid gas heat, while ensuring the regular descent of the mixture inside the reactor. This treatment requires the introduction of additional combustible gas into the combustion zone and depends essentially on the size of the particles to obtain the fluidized bed. This treatment, although its high combustion temperature (11000C) leads to the production of highly calorific gas with high productivity, however produces gas at high temperature; therefore, the subsequent condensation of the oils produced poses a difficult problem; in addition, at high temperatures, pyrolysis oils can polymerize in the pipes. And the need to shred tires into small pieces capable of creating the fluidized bed is a drawback.

 The object of the present invention is to carry out the pyrolysis of relatively large pieces of used tires without the need for external heat sources, with a high throughput, a large production of valuable products, including pyrolysis oils, and an energy efficiency. Student.

According to the invention, the method for treating combustible waste such as used tires, or similar rubberized waste which is at least partly made of combustible materials, comprising
- introduction into a reactor of a charge which
is at least partly made up of pieces of
combustible waste for the purpose of pyrolyzing it
and gasify them
- establishment of a gas flow through the
charge by injecting inside the reactor a
gasifying agent containing oxygen and
removing treatment products from the reactor
liquids and gases
- reactor inside which sections
successive charges enter successively into
heating, pyrolysis,
coking, combustion, and cooling
- and by unloading the products from the reactor
processing solids
is characterized in that, by adjusting at least one parameter selected from: the rate of introduction of the gasifying agent, the mass ratio between the rate of introduction of the gasifying agent and the consumption of the charge, the composition of the gasifying agent, and the composition of the feed, the maximum temperature in the reactor is maintained between 800 and 17000C while maintaining the temperature of the gaseous products at the outlet of the reactor below 350 "C; preferably below 300 "C, even more advantageously below 250" C.

 It has proved possible, in fact, to combine the relatively high maximum temperature in the reactor with an outlet for the gas produced at relatively low temperature.

 The maximum possible temperature obtained with the treatment according to the invention can be determined by thermodynamic evaluation and is normally too high if economically affordable materials are used for the construction of the reactor structures. By adjusting the parameters mentioned above, the maximum temperature in the reactor can be reduced. For example, slow introduction rates will normally reduce the maximum temperature by increasing the proportion of heat loss.

 Likewise, the addition of non-combustible materials to the charge contributes to the preheating of the gasifying agent and thus to the increase of the combustion temperature, but beyond a certain quantity or a certain proportion of non-combustible materials. , this amount will decrease the combustion temperature.

The ranges within which the parameters must be adjusted can be determined experimentally in each case, depending on the size of the reactor, its shape, its heat permeability, the nature of the waste, etc.

 The relatively low temperature of the product gas can be an effect of the length of the path of the product gas through the incoming charge. Such a low temperature of the product gas offers both the advantage of a better heat efficiency of the process, and the advantage of eliminating the problems considered above which appear when the temperature of the product gas is higher.

 As the produced gas cools while passing through the charge which has not yet been pyrolyzed, the compounds which can be condensed in the produced gas tend to condense in the charge, so that these condensable compounds will be recirculated to be pyrolyzed further in the pyrolysis zone, giving in the gas produces lighter and less condensable components.

 Preferably, the tires are reduced to pieces of a size between 25 and 300 mm. These pieces or, optionally, a mixture of these pieces with solid non-combustible materials in the form of fragments of a size greater than 20 mm, are loaded inside the reactor. In the reactor, the pieces are pressed against each other, for example under their own weight, unlike previous processes using fluidized bed technology or grids. To be more sure that the charge is permeable to gases, solid non-combustible materials can be introduced in the form of pieces or pierced objects, for example in the form of tubular cylinders. Tire pieces and solid non-combustible materials can be loaded separately inside the reactor and then mixed in it, or loaded as a pre-made mixture. The proportion of incombustibles in this charge is adjusted between 2 and 80% by mass.

As tire fragmentation is relatively difficult, it may be advantageous to use pieces of at least 100 mm, and even at least 200 mm.

Relatively large pieces of noncombustible material, at least 100 mm or even at least about 200 mm may also be preferred. It has been found that when it melts, the rubber tends to adhere to such non-fusible noncombustible pieces, leaving a passage for the gases between the pieces.

 In the reactor, in a stream of gasifying agent containing oxygen passing against the current through the feed, the fuels of the feed are pyrolyzed and gasified. The gasifying agent can be air, enriched in oxygen or, to increase the calorific value of the gas produced, a gasifying agent also containing water and / or carbon dioxide.

The gasifying agent (s) are introduced into the section of the reactor where the solid products of the treatment are deposited so that the gas flow passes through a layer of these products. The gasifying agent, or its particular constituents, are introduced either in distributed mode or in a localized area. In particular, water (liquid or vapor), carbon dioxide, and oxygen (from air) can be introduced through separate inlets.

 The loaded tires enter a preheating zone, where the load is heated to 3000C by heat exchange with the counter-current of produced gas. The term "produced gas" means a mixture containing vapors and droplets of suspended pyrolysis oils and combustion and gasification gases, in particular carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, l hydrogen, methane, ethylene, propane, etc. The gas produced is withdrawn from the reactor in this zone.

 The charge then enters the pyrolysis zone, where it is heated to between 300 and 500 ° C. by heat exchange with the gas flow, and the fuel from the tires pyrolyzes, producing carbon residues and releasing volatile products. inside the gas.

 Subsequently the charge enters the coking zone, where occurs, between 5000C and 8000C, the coking of the carbonaceous residues of pyrolysis, producing charcoal.

 The coal-containing charge then enters the oxidation combustion zone where, from 8000C to 17000C, the coal reacts with the heated gasifying agent, producing combustible gas and solid residues. Finally the solid residue enters the cooling zone, where it cools down to the discharge temperature by yielding heat to the gasifying agent entering countercurrently into the reactor.

 The classification of the areas mentioned above is to some extent arbitrary, and these areas can be defined in a different way, for example according to the temperature of the gas, the composition and the state of the reactants, etc. In all case, an important point is that thanks to the circulation of gases and solids against the current, the gasifying agent (the oxidizing gas) is preheated by the solid residues of combustion, and then the hot gaseous products of combustion and gasification give up their heat to the initial charge.

 It should be noted that the flow against the current does not necessarily imply a displacement of the load. In particular, the treatment can be carried out in continuous mode, by operating continuously or intermittently loading the tires into the reactor and discharging the solid residues as the charge is consumed in the treatment. In this particular case, in fact, the charge under treatment actually moves against the flow of the gas.

Alternatively, the same treatment can be carried out in a fixed bed, with the reactor loaded and unloaded in batches during periods of standstill. In this case, the succession of zones moves along the load and the pieces of tires enter a corresponding zone when the zone arrives at a particular region of the reactor. This fixed bed treatment can be carried out in a vertical oven with the gas flow upwards or downwards.

Performing this batch process normally requires a longer vertical reactor. It is then advantageous for the charge to contain a greater proportion of non-combustible materials next to the outlet for the gas produced, so as to avoid incomplete treatment of part of the waste at the end of each batch.

 Finally, the solid residue is discharged from the reactor. This residue can be treated (for example, on a screen), and the recovered pieces reused as solid non-combustible materials. This applies to the reuse of wire ropes as a solid additive as well as to objects, such as incombustible tubular materials, which had been added to the waste.

 The rate of introduction of the gasifying agent and the mass ratio between the consumption of the gasifying agent in relation to the consumption of the tire load (overall consumption, including non-fuels) is set between 0.3 and 5, 0, preferably around 0.4 to 0.7, so as to keep the maximum temperature in the reactor (in the combustion zone) between 800 and 17000C, preferably between 1000 and 1.2000C, while keeping the temperature of the gas produced at the outlet of the reactor below 250 "C.

 In order to control the temperatures, the mass ratio of the consumption of gasifying agent compared to the consumption of the tire load is reduced and / or the rate of introduction of gasifying agent is reduced, when the temperature gas produced at the outlet of the reactor exceeds the prescribed limits.

 When the combustion temperature falls below the prescribed limits, the rate of introduction of gasifying agent and / or the consumption ratio is increased. If the combustion temperature exceeds the prescribed level, the rate of introduction of oxidizing gas is reduced and / or the consumption ratio is reduced. The consumption ratio can be adjusted directly by adjusting the feed rate of the corresponding flow and also indirectly, by acting on the composition of the gasifying agent (by making it richer or poorer in oxygen, by adding water and / or carbon dioxide, etc.) and also by acting on the composition of the load to be treated. This last adjustment implies that in addition to the incombustibles already present in the tires (for example, metallic cables, zinc oxide, mineral fillers, etc.) a solid noncombustible material can be added to the charge, and thus regulate the content of noncombustibles in the charge within the limits mentioned below.

 The consumption report constitutes the basic parameter for carrying out the treatment in an optimal manner.

In fact, the optimized treatment must meet (when possible simultaneously) the following criteria
(a) high energy efficiency,
(b) high processing rate,
(c) high calorific value of the gas produced,
(d) low temperature of the gas produced,
(e) low temperature of solid residues,
(f) large production of pyrolysis oil, and
(g) predominance of light hydrocarbons in
oil.

 We can see that criteria (a) and (c to e) are consistent. Indeed, if the energy efficiency is high, this means that the energy content given to the product gas is correspondingly increased and the sensible heat of the discharged products is correspondingly decreased. The low temperatures of the products facilitate their handling. At the same time, the criteria (a to c) are simultaneously satisfied when the treatment temperature is high, that is to say when the reaction rate in the combustion zone is high and when the chemical equilibria in the high temperature zones are displaced in the direction of the formation of combustible gases (typically above 1000 "C, the maximum temperature being limited by the risk of melting of the reactor structures and / or of the solids inside the reactor).

 Criteria (d) and (g) are also in agreement, because at low temperature in the heating zone, heavy hydrocarbons tend to condense directly on the charge inside the reactor and to undergo repeated cracking.

 Criterion (f) is to some extent in contradiction with (b), so that the rate of treatment can only be accelerated at the cost of less production of oils.

 So, basically, the problem is to manage to combine the high combustion temperature with the low product temperatures. A partial response is provided by the counter-current mode itself, since it ensures a heat exchange between the products by allowing them to yield an essential part of their sensible heat before being removed from the reactor. However, the problem is in no way resolved by the prior art. The point is that the parameters on which the invention plans to act, namely the rate of introduction of the oxidizing gas and the consumption of the charge, do not make it possible to optimize the treatment, according to the criteria mentioned above, if they are regulated one by one and not in a concerted manner.

 One can understand why the above mentioned parameters combine in a ratio constituting an essential value. In fact, this ratio predominantly governs the heat exchange between the gas flow and the load and, thus, the transfer of sensible heat from the gas flow to the load. When this ratio appreciably exceeds unity, the heat of the gas flow cannot be received by the load and the gas produced is released at relatively high temperature. Similarly, when the ratio is low, the heat exchange makes it possible to perfectly recover the heat from the gas flow, but at the same time, the heat from the solid residue cannot be received by the flow of the gasifying agent. Thus, only the concerted adjustment of the two consumptions makes it possible to optimize the treatment.

 In particular, if these consumption of the tire load and the gasifying agent are adjusted independently of one another, the content of residual carbon black in the solid residue varies. If one wishes both to produce zinc oxide without carbon and to completely recover the calorific content of carbon, then the oxygen and carbon consumption must be concerted stoichiometrically, and this mass ratio of consumption is achieved by regulating the composition of the charge and that of the gasifying agent.

 The effect of the absolute feed rate of the gasifying agent is as follows: the higher the feed rate, the higher the maximum combustion temperature. This is due to two reasons. The first is the relative action of heat losses in the overall energy balance (heat losses become relatively low when the processing rate is rapid). The second relates to the kinetic limitations of endothermic reactions in the combustion zones.

But at the same time, the increase in the rate of introduction of the oxidation gas (the other parameters being fixed) causes the temperature of the produced gas to increase, because this affects the efficiency of the heat exchanges between the produced gas and the charge.

 The product gas removed from the reactor is used with known methods, for example, the condensed pyrolysis oil serves as a stock of hydrocarbons and its uncondensed portion of combustible gas.

 The carbon dioxide and water recovered from the gas produced during its treatment can be reused as components of the gasifying agent. In particular, the contaminated water separated from the pyrolysis oil can be injected into the combustion zone or into the cooling zone where the temperature is quite high (more than 400 "C for solids), and where an environment prevails. oxidant, to crack the organic matter dissolved in the water This method of introducing water also provides an additional means of urgently varying the maximum temperature of the reactor, in the event that the temperature exceeds the prescribed limits.

 In order to act on the sulfur (or chlorine) content in the gas produced, it is also possible to introduce into the incombustible solid materials charged a component (for example, limestone or dolomite), which reacts chemically with the sulfur-containing substances to produce compounds which are subsequently removed with solid residues.

 The present invention, unlike those known, provides an effective method for directly treating by waste pyrolysis the tire waste reduced into large pieces (thus the expenses for shredding the tires are low, the load has good gas permeability and the hydrodynamic losses are weak) using only the heat of the hot gases emerging from the combustion zone with a high production of pyrolysis oils (greater than 55%) and a good yield. The energy consumed during processing is supplied by the combustion of at least part of the carbon black which is present in the gum and which is produced during pyrolysis. Thanks to the low temperature at which the gas produced exits, the Low value heavy oils are trapped in the reactor as they condense in the heating zone and return with the charge for further cracking. The low temperature of the product gas facilitates the subsequent condensation of the pyrolysis oils, and prevents the polymerization of the unsaturated oils in the pipes. At the same time, the high combustion temperature provides a high calorific value to the non-condensable product gas, a rapid rate of treatment, and a high efficiency.

 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description, with reference to nonlimiting examples.

 Figure 1 is a schematic view of a possible application of the method.

 The tires "T" are fragmented in a crusher 1, are subsequently mixed with the non-fuse solid non-fuse material "I" in a mixer 2, and then loaded at the top of a vertical reactor 4 by an air lock admission 3.

 In the reactor 4, the charge successively passes through the heating 5, pyrolysis 6, combustion 7, and cooling 8 zones. The solid combustion residue "R" is continuously discharged from the base of the reactor by an air lock 9 outlet, at a rate which is adjusted so as to stabilize the combustion zone at a certain distance above the base of the reactor. The entire load forms over the entire height of the reactor a single column in which the pieces constituting the load are supported on each other by their own weight and more generally each region of the height of this column supports against gravity all the materials of the column located above, according to the technology of the stationary bed, although the bed moves down during the treatment.

 The solid residue is fractionated on a sieve 10, and part of it, namely tubular cylinders introduced to deagglomerate the charge, is recycled as a solid additive and the other parts are directed in order to dispose of it in an appropriate manner. In particular, the metal cables and the zinc oxide powder are separated. Air "A" is introduced by a compressor 11 into the lower part of the reactor. Steam "S" is also injected at this level through a separate opening. The product gas "G" is extracted from the upper part of the reactor and directed to a condenser 12. In this, the condensable liquids are separated from the gas, the contaminated water "w" returns to the cooling zone to incinerate organic pollutants dissolved and the pyrolysis hydrocarbon oil "H" is sent for later use or storage.

The non-condensable gas produced is sent to subsequent use, which may include further purification and ultimately combustion in a boiler or similar thermal load. The temperatures in the respective zones are continuously monitored and respective adjustments to the control parameters are made whenever these temperatures deviate from the prescribed optimum limits.

The invention is further illustrated by the following examples
10) A mixture of automobile tires, cut into pieces having a size of 3 to 5 cm, with pieces of refractory bricks of the same size were loaded into a laboratory reactor. The composition of the mixture was in a mass ratio of 1: 1.

 Air was used as the gasifier.

The air consumption was 930 N.m3 / h per m2 of cross section of the reactor. The tire treatment rate was 350 kg / h per m2 of cross-section of the reactor. The temperature of the gas produced at the outlet of the reactor was 220 "C.

 The combustion temperature was 12500C. The gas produced was cooled in a water condenser, where the pyrolysis oil was collected. The total oil percentage was 55% of the weight of loaded tires.

The composition of the oil was as follows
C: 86.42%, by weight
H: 10.72%,
O: 0.40%,
N: 1.22%,
S: 1.26%.

 The solid residues from the treatment (apart from the pieces of bricks) were metallic segments of cables (14% of the weight of the loaded tires) a powder which contained zinc oxide and sand (about 9% of the weight loaded tires) with a small amount (about 3% by weight of powder) of zinc sulfate. The carbon content in the powder was less than 0.5%.

 2 ") Identical to the previous example, but the gasifying agent was an air-vapor mixture. The vapor content of the gasifying agent was 17% by volume.

The air consumption was the same as in Example 1, and the treatment rate was 380 kg / h per m2 of cross section of the reactor.

 The temperature of the gas produced at the outlet of the reactor was 210 C. The combustion temperature was 1100 C. The total percentage of oil was 50% by weight.

Claims (20)

 1. A method for treating combustible waste such as used tires and similar rubber waste which is at least partly made of combustible materials, comprising  - introduce a charge into the reactor which is at  less partly made up of pieces of waste  fuels to pyrolyze and gasify them  - establish a gas flow through the load in  injecting a gasifying agent into the reactor  containing oxygen and drawing  liquid treatment products reactor and  gas from the reactor  - process in which successive sections of the  loads successively enter areas of  heating, pyrolysis, coking,  combustion, and cooling;  - withdraw solid products from the reactor  treatment  characterized in that by adjusting at least one  parameter selected from the feed rate in  gasifying agent, the mass ratio between the flow  feed of the gasifying agent and the  load consumption, agent composition  gasifier, and the composition of the feed, the maximum temperature in the reactor is maintained  between 800 and 17000C while maintaining the temperature  gaseous products below about 350 "C at the  exit from the reactor.  2. Method according to claim I, characterized in that the temperature of the gaseous products at the outlet of the reactor is kept below 300 "C.  3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the temperature of the gaseous products at the outlet of the reactor is kept below 250 "C.  4. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the pieces, comprising the load, are kept firmly pressed against each other in the reactor.  5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the substantially vertical ascending gas flow is established in the reactor and the pieces making up the load are pressed against each other under the action of the weight of these pieces.  6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a major part of the pieces is introduced into the reactor having a main dimension between about 25 and 300 mm.  7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the method is carried out continuously, the combustible waste being successively charged by one end of the reactor and the solid products of the treatment successively discharged from the other end of the reactor without interrupting the process.  8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the method is implemented in batches, the combustible waste being loaded and the solid products of the treatment discharged while the reactor is stopped.  9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the combustible waste is loaded into the reactor with non-combustible materials, with an increased quantity of non-combustible materials adjacent to a gas outlet from the reactor, and the process is initiated by heating the waste fuels adjacent to a gas inlet to the reactor.  10. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the combustible waste is mixed with a solid incombustible material before introducing the combustible waste inside the reactor, so that the charge introduced into the reactor is a mixture of combustible waste and non-combustible materials.  11. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the step of introducing the charge into the reactor comprises the introduction into the reactor, as part of the combustible waste, of materials containing non-combustible components, in particular, metallic cables.  12. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the composition of the charge is adjusted by adjusting the proportion by mass of the non-combustibles in the charge.  13. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the composition of the charge is regulated by introducing into the reactor solid non-combustible materials with combustible waste.  14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the incombustible materials are introduced into the reactor in the form of pieces or objects which predominantly have a main dimension greater than about 20 mm.  15. Method according to any one of claims 9, 10, 13, 14, characterized in that the solid non-combustible materials are introduced into the reactor in the form of pieces through which holes pass.  16. Method according to any one of claims 9, 10, 13, 15, characterized in that a fraction of the solid products of the treatment is used as solid non-combustible materials.  17. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that carbon dioxide and / or water is introduced into the gasifying agent.  18. The method of claim 17, characterized in that water is introduced into the reactor by injection into the combustion zone and / or into the cooling zone where the temperature of the solid products is greater than 400 "C.  19. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the composition of the gasification agent is adjusted by adjusting its carbon dioxide and / or water content.  20. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that a component which chemically reacts with substances containing sulfur and / or chlorine is introduced into the reactor with the feedstock, to produce compounds which are then discharged with the solid products of the treatment.