Degradation of organic compounds in hypersaline wastewater concentrate by a supercritical oxidation approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hypersaline wastewater is a typical industrial wastewater produced by iron and steel metallurgy, food material processing and other industries. Aiming at a waste liquid produced by mechanical vapour recompression evaporation and concentration in Tianjin coastal industrial zone, an environment-friendly supercritical water oxidation technology was used to efficiently remove the high-content organic matter in the hypersaline wastewater concentrate (HWC). A comparison of the degradation effects of various oxidants in the supercritical state showed that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) could be used as a suitable agent for processing the HWC. The reaction parameters were systematically optimised by single-factor experiment and response surface design. The degradation mechanism and reaction characteristics were analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Solid residues were characterised by field emission scanning electron microscope. The results indicated that when the dosage of hydrogen peroxide was 6.39%, the reaction temperature was 380°C, the reaction time was about 90 min and the optimal total organic carbon removal rate was 96.22%. Furthermore, it was found that hydroxyl radicals produced by hydrogen peroxide initiated the bond breaking and ring-opening reactions in organic matter, which eventually degraded organic matter into water and carbon dioxide.