Coal conversion wastewater treatment by catalytic oxidation in supercritical water. Technical progress report, July 1, 1995 - June 30, 1996

Abstract

The overall objective of this research project is to obtain the reaction engineering information required to evaluate the utility of catalytic supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for treating wastes arising from coal conversion processes. Our more specific objectives for this first phase of the project were: 1. to recruit and train a graduate student to work on this project 2. to construct a reactor system for the experimental studies 3. to initiate catalytic SCWO experiments and identify an active catalyst. Each of these three objectives has been met. The literature search revealed that both CuO and Mno{sup 2} are effective catalysts for the oxidation of organics (including phenol) in aqueous streams. Recently, these materials have also shown promise in catalytic supercritical water oxidation. Accordingly, our initial experiments have employed CuO and MhO{sup 2} catalysts that are commercially available. The catalyst we used in these initial studies, CARLITE 150 from Carus Chemical Company, has been commercially used in treating volatile organic compounds generated in various chemical processes. It contains MnO{sup 2} and CuO supported on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The commercial catalyst pellets were ground to powders and separated by size before use. We used phenol as the first model pollutant to study because it is ubiquitous in wastewaters and there is a large data base for non- catalytic SCWO with which we can contrast results from catalytic SCWO.