A supercritical water oxidation reactor: The Material Evaluations Reactor (MeR)

Conference · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5771482

LaJeunesse, C A; Rice, S F; Bartel, J J; Kelley, M; Seibel, C A; Hoffa, L G; Eklund, T F; Odegard, B C

The paper describes the construction and control details of a supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) flow reactor. These details include a description of the Quality Function Deployment process that identified the system requirements and resource allocations, an overview of the SCWO process, and an in-depth description of the reactor itself including both physical and operational design. Supercritical water oxidation to destroy aqueous organic waste is a relatively new technology discovered about twelve years ago at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is not commercialized presently, but shows promise for detoxifying wastes in an efficient, cost-competitive, and environmentally safe manner. Supercritical water oxidation occurs at moderate temperatures and pressures where the ability of water to dissolve hydrocarbons is greatly enhanced. Depending on the feed stream and residence time, the dissolved hydrocarbon reacts with an oxidizer to produce innocuous combustion products. We also report the development of an optical component for this flow reactor that permits the use of laser-based diagnostics, specifically spontaneous Raman scattering, to directly probe the reacting flow. Optical accessibility allows the determination of the concentration of these reactants and the chemical kinetics of the reaction in-situ -- the spatial dependence of mechanical processes, in particular corrosion and deposition, that affect the long term reliability of reactors can also be investigated.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DR00789
• OSTI ID: 5771482
• Report Number(s): SAND-91-8623; CONF-920310--2; ON: DE92007417
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320303 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Equipment & Processes
320305* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Industrial Waste Management
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400800 -- Combustion
Pyrolysis
& High-Temperature Chemistry
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
CORROSION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HIGH PRESSURE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LASER RADIATION
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
OXIDATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
RADIATIONS
RAMAN EFFECT
SUPERCRITICAL STATE
TEMPERATURE RANGE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WATER