Patent ID: 7429239

Claim:
A process for melting materials to be treated, the process comprising: providing a container having an interior portion and an exterior portion wherein the interior portion can hold materials therein; placing a first and a second insulating layer over the interior portion of the container, wherein a slip form is used to place the first or second insulating layer into the container; placing hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste materials to be treated into the interior portion of the container, wherein the container does not comprise a region formed in the ground and the container can withstand temperatures of at least about 1400 degrees C. without significant degradation of the container; heating the hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste materials to be treated in the container at a temperature of at least about 1400 degrees C. until the materials to be treated melt to create melted hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste materials; allowing the melted hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste materials to cool in the container to create a vitrified hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste material; and disposing of the vitrified hazardous and/or contaminated and/or waste material wherein the disposing is capable of being either discarding the container with the vitrified material therein or removing the vitrified material from the container such that the container can be used in another melting process.