Oxidation and hydrolysis of acetic acid and methylene chloride in supercritical water as a means of remediation
Conference
·
OSTI ID:111514
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); and others
Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a promising technology proposed for the destruction of hazardous organic wastes. Unlike its well known behavior under ambient conditions, water above its critical point (374{degrees}C, 221 bar) has properties similar to that of a nonpolar solvent, primarily due to the effect of a decrease in hydrogen bonding and density that occurs near and above the critical point. The result is that nonpolar organics and oxygen exhibit complete solubility in supercritical water, while polar species such as inorganic salts are insoluble and precipitate out. In the single homogeneous phase formed, oxidation of organics with oxygen in supercritical water is rapid and complete to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O. Organic heteroatoms such as halogens, sulfur, or phosphorus are converted to inorganic acids (HCl, H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, H{sub 3}PO{sub 4}) which precipitate as salts when neutralized with added base, while nitrogen is converted to N{sub 2} and N{sub 2}O. No NO{sub x} compounds are formed due to the relatively low temperatures that exist in the SCWO process (400 - 650{degrees}C) relative to that of air incineration processes (typically 900 - 1300{degrees}C). Oxidation in supercritical water is thus an appealing means of destroying toxic organic compounds while simultaneously separating out undesired inorganics by precipitation. Applications to decontaminating soils and dilute aqueous wastes are of special interest. Earlier work has demonstrated high destruction efficiencies for various organics in SCWO.
- OSTI ID:
- 111514
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9504110--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
By-products from supercritical water oxidation: Pathways, kinetics, and mechanisms
Experimental techniques to determine salt formation and deposition in supercritical water oxidation reactors
Supercritical Water Oxidation Program (SCWOP); Technology summary
Conference
·
Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995
·
OSTI ID:111513
Experimental techniques to determine salt formation and deposition in supercritical water oxidation reactors
Conference
·
Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994
·
OSTI ID:10173804
Supercritical Water Oxidation Program (SCWOP); Technology summary
Technical Report
·
Mon Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1994
·
OSTI ID:144783