Destruction of chemical agent simulants in a supercritical water oxidation bench-scale reactor.
A new design of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) bench-scale reactor has been developed to handle high-risk wastes resulting from munitions demilitarization. The reactor consists of a concentric vertical double wall in which SCWO reaction takes place inside an inner tube (titanium grade 2, non-porous) whereas pressure resistance is ensured by a Hastelloy C-276 external vessel. The performances of this reactor were investigated with two different kinds of chemical warfare agent simulants: OPA (a mixture of isopropyl amine and isopropyl alcohol) as the binary precursor for nerve agent of sarin and thiodiglycol [TDG, (HOC(2)H(4))2S] as the model organic sulfur heteroatom. High destruction rates based on total organic carbon (TOC) were achieved (>99.99%) without production of chars or undesired gases such as carbon monoxide and methane. The carbon-containing product was carbon dioxide whereas the nitrogen-containing products were nitrogen and nitrous oxide. Sulfur was totally recovered in the aqueous effluent as sulfuric acid. No corrosion was noticed in the reactor after a cumulative operation time of more than 250 h. The titanium tube shielded successfully the pressure vessel from corrosion.
Veriansyah
Bambang
B
Supercritical Fluid Research Laboratory, Clean Technology Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), 39-1 Hawolgok-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-791, South Korea. vaveri@kist.re.kr
Kim
Jae-Duck
JD
Lee
Jong-Chol
JC
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009584:Nitrogen; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D011312:Pressure; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D014025:Titanium; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D014867:Water; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D009584:Nitrogen; C033158:sulfuric acid; D010100:Oxygen