Synergetic effect of copper-plating wastewater as a catalyst for the destruction of acrylonitrile wastewater in supercritical water oxidation.
A new supercritical water oxidation process for the simultaneous treatment of mixed wastewater containing wastewater from acrylonitrile manufacturing processes and copper-plating processes was investigated using a continuous tubular reactor system. Experiments were carried out at temperatures ranging from 400 to 600 degrees C and a pressure of 25 MPa. The residence time was fixed at 2s by changing the flow rates of feeds, depending on reaction temperature. The initial total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the wastewaters and the O(2) concentration at the reactor inlet were kept constant at 0.49 and 0.74 mol/L. It was confirmed that the copper-plating wastewater accelerated the TOC conversion of acrylonitrile wastewater from 17.6% to 67.3% at a temperature of 450 degrees C. Moreover, copper and copper oxide nanoparticles were generated in the process of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) of mixed wastewater. 99.8% of copper in mixed wastewater was recovered as solid copper and copper oxides at a temperature of 600 degrees C, with their average sizes ranging from 150 to 160 nm. Our study showed that SCWO provides a synergetic effect for simultaneous treatment of acrylonitrile and copper-plating wastewater. During the reaction, the oxidation rate of acrylonitrile wastewater was enhanced due to the in situ formation of nano-catalysts of copper and/or copper oxides, while the exothermic decomposition of acrylonitrile wastewater supplied enough heat for the recovery of solid copper and copper oxides from copper-plating wastewater. The synergetic effect of wastewater treatment by the newly proposed SCWO process leads to full TOC conversion, color removal, detoxification, and odor elimination, as well as full recovery of copper.
Shin
Young Ho
YH
School of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Lee
Hong-shik
HS
Lee
Young-Ho
YH
Kim
Jaehoon
J
Kim
Jae-Duck
JD
Lee
Youn-Woo
YW
D000181:Acrylonitrile / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D003300:Copper; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008669:Metallurgy; D010100:Oxygen; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
D007220:Industrial Waste; D003300:Copper; D000181:Acrylonitrile; D010100:Oxygen