You are here:
ANALYSIS OF MODIFIED WET-AIR OXIDATION FOR SOIL DETOXIFICATION
Citation:
Unterberg, W., R. Willms, A. Balinsky, D. Reible, AND D. Wetzel. ANALYSIS OF MODIFIED WET-AIR OXIDATION FOR SOIL DETOXIFICATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-87/079.
Description:
The report presents the results of research on wet-air oxidation as a method for the destruction of hazardous wastes. For organics in the presence of large amounts of water, the water need not be vaporized during wet-air oxidation, an attractive characteristic for energy conservation. The feasibility of using wet-air oxidation was investigated in terms of the effects of temperature, pressure, and the presence or absence of soil on the oxidation rate of three model compounds. Wet-air oxidation is a semi-commercial process that has been used to treat a variety of weakly toxic chemical wastes and for the regeneration of activated carbon. In the study wet-air oxidation research was carried out in a 1-liter batch reactor at temperatures from 130 to 275 deg C and pressures from 703-1760x ten to the 3rd power kg/sq m on three substances: m-xylene, tetrachloroethylene (TCE), and malathion, both with and without addition of soil. Any attempt to balance the effect of residence time and the cost of energy requires an accurate description of the oxidation kinetics for the compound or waste stream in question. Due to the sampling technique used during the investigation and the inherent nature of the wet-air oxidation process, a variety of potential problems with the interpretation and analysis of the raw concentration-time data were encountered during the study.