title: Destruction of chemical agent simulants in a supercritical water oxidation bench-scale reactor.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Bambang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Veriansyah
authors.forename: Jae-Duck
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Chol
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: 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