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Abstract
Aqueous wastes containing organic pollutants can be eciently treated by wet air oxidation (WAO), i.e. oxidation (or combus-
tion) by molecular oxygen in the liquid phase, at high temperature (200±325 C) and pressure (up to 175 bar). This method is suited
to the elimination of special aqueous wastes from the chemical industry as well as to the treatment of domestic sludge. It is an
enclosed process, with a limited interaction with the environment, as opposed to incineration. Usually, the operating cost is lower
than 95 Euro mÿ3 and the preferred COD load ranges from 10 to 80 kg mÿ3. Only a handful of industrial reactors are in operation
world-wide, mainly because of the high capital investment they require. This paper reviews the major results obtained with the
WAO process and assesses its ®eld of possible application to industrial wastes. In addition, as only a very few studies have been
devoted to the scienti®c design of such reactors (bubble columns), what needs to be known for this scienti®c design is discussed. At
present, a computer program aimed at determining the performance of a wet air oxidation reactor depending on the various oper-
ating parameters has been implemented at the laboratory. Some typical results are presented, pointing out the most important
parameters and the speci®c behavior of these units. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Wet air oxidation; Wastewater treatment; Industrial organic waste; Reactor design; High temperature; High pressure; Liquid phase;
Oxidation; Oxygen
entire oxidation of the organic matter and that can available for the scienti®c design of such bubble column
allow mechanical power generation [3] because the reactors. This article reviews the major results available
reaction releases energy. It has been established [4,5] for the process and describes a method for designing
that the energy self-suciency is obtained provided that such bubble column reactors.
the COD load exceeds 12±15 kgmÿ3.
There are only some tens of industrial plants in
operation around the world [4]. In western Europe, the 2. History of wet air oxidation
main plants can be divided into two classes. In the ®rst,
extremely speci®c tubular reactors have been adapted More than 40 years ago, Zimmermann [8] was look-
from the mining industry (Stignaes, Denmark) or from ing for an alternative method to treat special black
the oil extraction branch (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands). liquors from papermills. Because of their very high silica
The very high capital cost and the operating problems content, the usual evaporation and combustion method
(scaling up, lack of turbulence and homogenization (Kraft process) was unsuitable. Zimmermann found he
leading to sedimentation problems, maintenance) are could burn pulpmill liquors and described a method
very serious disadvantages in this technology. In the using air at high pressure leading to the combustion of
second class, much more conventional bubble column organic compounds dissolved or suspended in liquid
reactors are found (Newcastle, England; Monthey, water, at relatively low temperatures, as long as oxygen
Switzerland and Grenzach, Germany, etc.). But, despite was present. Wet air oxidation was beginning to take
this industrial experience, very few documents [6,7] are o. Zimmermann added that this new method was quite
H. Debellefontaine, J.N. Foussard / Waste Management 20 (2000) 15±25 17
similar to incineration as the organic residues where oxygen pressure and organic compound concentration,
mainly burned up to carbon dioxide, to nitrogen including: biological sludge and papermill black liquors,
(ammonia or molecular) and to ashes, together with a which are of industrial concern; various wastes from the
limited amount of volatile fatty acids (acetic) and traces pharmaceutical and the phytosanitary industries; and
of carbon monoxide. When the temperature was about oxalic, acetic and formic acids, which are signi®cant
300 C, the organic matter removal eciency exceeded intermediates for oxidation of industrial wastes and
95% and enabled the mineral fraction of the oxidized model molecules. As organic carbon is oxidized to car-
liquor to be recycled. Because of the vapor pressure of bon dioxide, organic nitrogen is usually turned to
water (86 bar at 300 C) and because of nitrogen from ammonia, but elemental nitrogen has been reported
the air, the total pressure ®gure came to 175 bar or so with nitrous compounds. Sulfur compounds give sulfu-
and the energy aspect (gas compression and energy ric acid or sulfates, phosphorus compounds give phos-
recovery) of WAO was obviously an important feature phates and chlorine compounds give hydrochloric acid.
to consider. Thus, the general material balance for the WAO process
By the early 1970s, wet air oxidation was regenerating can be described with reaction 1 where the heat value is
spent powdered activated carbon from wastewater close to 435 kJ (mole O2 reacted)ÿ1.
treatment processes and from chemical industries. The
process had been used on sewage sludge since 1960, with Cm Hn Ok Clw Nx Sy Pz
m 0:25
n ÿ 3x
dierent results achieved through changes in the oper- ÿ 0:5k 2
y zO2 ÿÿÿ! mCO2 0:5
n ÿ 3x
ating temperatures and pressures. But the process was
H2 O xNH3 wClÿ ySO2ÿ 3ÿ
4 zPO4 heat
rediscovered during the 1980s, it enjoyed renewed
popularity as a means of detoxifying liquids prohibited Reaction 1
from land disposal by restrictions related to new regula-
tions decreed worldwide for environmental protection.
3.2. Mechanism of the reactions and catalysis
3. Chemical aspects of wet air oxidation The series of reactions 2±6 indicates that the reaction
is propagated by an organic radical R. during a cou-
3.1. General aspects and results pling with molecular oxygen [reaction (2)]. According to
Lixiong et al., [14] this radical is normally obtained by
Various authors have determined the dependency on reaction between oxygen and the weakest CÿH bonds
the operating parameters and the mechanism of oxida- [reaction (3)] and during an attack by the radical HO.2
tion [9±11]). At about 250 C, nearly all the compounds obtained [reaction (4)]. Because of the temperature, the
can be completely transformed except for acetic and hydrogen peroxide obtained decomposes rapidly [reac-
propionic acids. Furthermore, under such conditions, tion (5)] to hydroxyl radicals. Reaction (6) is a propaga-
the ®nal product is not only carbon dioxide, but also tion step leading to hydroperoxides and, more generally,
various carboxylic acids, mainly acetic, according to to oxidized species. For most of the molecules, the
Pujol et al. [12]) and Imamura et al. [13]). The oxidation initiation step [reaction (3)] is the limiting one and is
proceeds according to a chain reaction mechanism, pre- extremely dependent on temperature, with an activation
sented in Fig. 1, which highlights the particular role of energy which can exceed 100 or 200 kJ molÿ1. This
acetic acid. In a previous paper, [10] we have compared result explains why air oxidation, impossible at room
the ability of WAO to oxidize various organic sub- temperature, becomes fairly rapid at temperatures
stances; acetic acid indeed appears to be refractory and greater than 250 or 300 C. On the other hand, the pro-
needs the most extreme conditions to oxidize to carbon pagation step [reaction (2)] is usually rapid and the rate
dioxide. Nevertheless, by increasing the temperature to constants are about 107 to 109 l molÿ1 sÿ1 according to
310 C, it can be oxidized to over 90% within 1 h. Jouret [15].
Several kinds of wastes were studied in batch reactors
for the dependency of the reaction rate on temperature, O ÿ O R ÿÿÿ! ROO Reaction 2
3.3. Kinetic aspects of the chemical reactions This model was used during a laboratory investiga-
tion aimed at determining the reactivity of an euent
The practical aim of understanding reaction mechan- from a chemical plant (COD40 glÿ1). A series of runs
isms is to improve the development of kinetic models
required for the design of industrial reactors. Funda-
mental studies have determined the dependency of the
oxidation rate on the various operating parameters
[9,11]. The partial order with respect to the organic
compound is almost always 1. It is close to 0.4 with
respect to dissolved oxygen [5,23]. WAO reactions have
been extensively studied in laboratory batch reactors for Fig. 2. Generalised kinetic model for wet air oxidation of organic
kinetic purposes, over a wide range of temperatures and compounds.
H. Debellefontaine, J.N. Foussard / Waste Management 20 (2000) 15±25 19
was conducted in a batch autoclave reactor, the tem- rt;i kl ai Yi i P=
i Hi=w FPi ÿ Xi
4
perature and concentration of dissolved oxygen being
maintained constant throughout each of the runs. The
experimental results and the model line, obtained after 4.2. Solubility of oxygen and carbon dioxide
proper adjustment of the Ki values by a least square
method, are plotted in Fig. 3 for two runs. As Fig. 3 The Henry's law constant for the solubility of gases in
and Eq. (2) show, the experimental result can be con- water is also available from the literature [2,10,27,28,38].
veniently represented with the model depicted in Fig. 2. Because of the dependency of the Henry's law constants
This model is valid for temperatures ranging from on temperature, it is clear that, above 250 C, the solu-
250 to 325 C and for oxygen concentrations from 0.5 to bility is greater than at room temperature. This must be
1.5 glÿ1. pointed out as it is usually believed that solubility just
decreases as temperature increases. In WAO reactors,
dissolved oxygen concentrations as high as 1.5 glÿ1 are
4. Transfer and solubility of gases during WAO easily obtained as the oxygen partial pressure can be as
high as 25 bar.
4.1. Transfer between gas and liquid To determine the total amount of carbon dioxide dis-
solved, it is necessary to take into account the eect of
The overall wet air oxidation mechanism includes two the pH on the dissociation as in reaction (7) and Eq. (5)
steps. One is the chemical reaction between the organic where the ®rst ionization constant varies from 4.32 10ÿ7
matter and oxygen dissolved in the liquid phase, pro- (20 C) to 1.6 10ÿ8 (250 C). The second dissociation can
ducing carbon dioxide. The other one, a physical step, is be ignored at the usual pH values.
the transfer of oxygen from the gas phase to the liquid
one and the transfer of carbon dioxide to the gas from H2 O CO2 ; aq ÿÿÿ! H HCOÿ
3 Reaction 7
the liquid. When designing a wet air oxidation reactor,
one usually considers that gases diuses rapidly within HCo2 =W
Hco2=W;cor
5
the gas phase. The only signi®cant transfer resistance is
1 Ka1 =10ÿpH
located at the gasliquid interface (®lm model) and the
actual conditions within an industrial reactor will
depend on its hydrodynamics. For high mixing e-
ciencies, the oxygen concentration within the bulk liquid 5. Industrial aspects of wet air oxidation
is close to the interface (or equilibrium) concentration
and the overall rate is close to the chemical rate. 5.1. Flow diagram
The rate of transfer of a component between the two
phases is expressed by Eq. (4) as the mass transfer coef- An industrial wet air oxidation unit is typically run
®cients [24] are available from the literature for various continuously. The basic ¯ow diagram of the more usual
types of reactors. The fugacity coecients can be deter- WAO systems is given in Fig. 4. The raw waste is
mined using the Peng and Robinson EOS with the usual pumped to the lower part of a bubble column reactor
mixing rules [25,26]. through a series of preheaters. A liquid residence
time from 35 min to 3 h is used. Air or oxygen is
compressed and is allowed to bubble at the lower part of extensive knowledge of this process and has designed
the reactor. Usually, the oxygen ¯ow rate does not and constructed several similar facilities during the last
exceed 110% of the inlet COD ¯ow rate. In some cases, 15 years, including, among others, Casmalia Resources
cryogenic oxygen is used and pumped before vaporiza- (California, USA) for the treatment of cyanides, phe-
tion to save shaft work during compression. After nols and pesticides; Bofor Nobel (Michigan, USA) for
starting up, the reactor is normally adiabatic and, in treating wastes from the chemical industry and regener-
most cases, the temperature value is controlled by ating activated carbon and Dominion Foundries
adjusting the total pressure. The heat absorbed when (Ontario, Canada) to detoxify a liquor after scrubbing
water vaporizes in the gas stream compensates for the the gases of a coking plant.
heat released when the organic pollutants oxidize in the
liquid phase. The energy content of the liquid and gas 5.2.2. Homann La Roche (Germany)
outlet streams is sucient to ensure the preheating of The Loprox process patented by Bayer AG and
the feed. If the inlet COD exceeds 12±15 gl, the process licensed to Bertrams AG is used. The process aims pri-
gives net energy generation [3,5]. Phase separators and marily at improving the biodegradability of wastewaters
®nal energy recovery system are not depicted in Fig. 4 and sludge with minimum energy consumption, but
but medium pressure steam is usually generated and, leaves the bulk of the decomposition process to a
according to the industrial site conditions, dedicated to downstream biological treatment unit with its lower
process use throughout the plant or to a speci®c turbine. operating cost. Thanks to the use of a catalyst (iron plus
The typical COD removal eciency seldom exceeds anthraquinone), preferably under acidic conditions, the
95% and the treated stream cannot be discharged into process works even at pressures lower than 35 bar and
the environment. Most of the WAO units are run in at temperatures lower than 230 C, resulting in reduced
connection with biological facilities where a posttreat- investment and operating costs. Under the Loprox con-
ment is conducted before ®nal release, like in ditions, a large proportion of the degradation process
Grenzach Ð Germany and Stignaes Ð Denmark. The ends with the formation of small molecules such as
gas stream coming out of a WAO treatment facility acetic acid and similar substances that are easily biode-
contains a limited amount of volatile organic com- graded and the COD reduction seldom exceeds 70%.
pounds and carbon monoxide (0.5±25%) together with Companies or subsidiaries of the Homann La Roche
carbon dioxide, oxygen in excess and water. A simple group operate plants designed according to Fig. 4 in
postcombustion reactor ensures the ®nal oxidation of Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
these gases before they are vented to the atmosphere.
The quantity of waste gas is only about one tenth of the 5.2.3. Ciba Geigy (Monthey Switzerland and Grenzach
quantity which would be emitted by an incineration Germany)
plant treating the same waste. Ciba Geigy [39] has developed its own system for the
treatment of various wastes from the chemical industry,
5.2. Typical industrial facilities in Europe with 2 bubble column reactors in series. Each column is
lined with titanium, has a diameter of about 1 m and is
Several companies have industrial references con- 25 m high. The nominal conditions are COD: 110 glÿ1,
cerning this process, including US Filter/Zimpro (by far temperature: 295 C, pressure: 160 bar, ¯ow rate: 10 mÿ3
the leader throughout the world), Ciba Geigy, Bayer hÿ1, i.e. 20 tons COD per day and a residence time
and its licensee Bertrams, Vertech Treatment System greater than 3 h. An unsupported copper catalyst is
and its licensee KTI/Manesmann, etc. used (separated by ®ltration and recycled), ammonia is
stripped from the liquor and the ¯ue gas is oxidized in a
5.2.1. Eastman Fine Chemicals (Newcastle, UK) postcombustion reactor for carbon monoxide removal.
This facility started up in 1992 to treat the wastewater A 37.5 million Euro capital cost, including the facility
from a facility producing the pain reliever Paracetamol. itself and the related building, was quoted when
This waste contains various organic compounds, Monthey (Switzerland) was implemented in 1989.
including aminophenols, with a COD close to 70 or 80
kg mÿ3, and large amounts of sul®te. US Filter/Zimpro 5.2.4. Kruger AS (Stignaes, Denmark)
has designed a bubble column reactor according to A plug ¯ow reactor (horizontal) was started up in
Fig. 4 with an inner titanium lining. The rated tem- 1993 to treat 25 mÿ3 hÿ1 of various aqueous wastes
perature is 265 C, the rated pressure 110 bar (atmo- from the chemical industry and sludge from a nearby
spheric air is used) and the nominal ¯ow rate is sewage facility. The COD design ®gure is 35 kg mÿ3. The
0.7mÿ3hÿ1, corresponding to an actual residence time of reactor is merely a stainless steel pipe 3850 m long, with
about 2.5 h. A 97% removal eciency is claimed for a diameter of 110 mm and allows a residence time close
COD and the euent is trucked to a nearby public to 1 h. The nominal temperature is 260±290 C and the
wastewater treatment plant. US Filter/Zimpro has rated pressure is 120 bar. A speci®c building houses six
H. Debellefontaine, J.N. Foussard / Waste Management 20 (2000) 15±25 21
layers of 10 tubes. The tubes are 60 m long and spaced Inorganic sul®des are oxidized to sulfates at tempera-
out 1.5 m apart. tures ranging from 165 to 200 C and pressures from 7 to
28 bar. The organically bound sulfur is converted to
5.3. Sludge treatment facilities sulfate and the organic portion of mercaptans is con-
verted to the corresponding carboxylic anion. The
US Filter/Zimpro has constructed a number of sludge overall destruction of COD (typically 97%) is tied to the
treatment and dewatering systems [40,41]. The sludge is oxidation of sul®des, mercaptans and organics.
thickened and then pumped to the Zimpro units. There,
sludge is mixed with air, pressurized and brought to the
system temperature of about 200 C. Under these mild 6. Wet air oxidation reactors design
conditions, only a very limited COD reduction is
observed. But the process not only reduces sludge World-wide, there are tens of bubble column WAO
volume, it also produces a conditioned sludge that units but fewer than 5 WAO plug ¯ow reactors. Despite
thickens and dewaters to a high solids cake. the industrial experience with such bubble column reac-
The ®rst commercial VerTech WAO plant began tors, very few documents [7] are available for their sci-
operation in 1994 in Apeldoorn (The Nederlands), to enti®c design. In addition, many distinguished scientists
treat 460 000 tons per annum of domestic sludge, i.e. are under a misapprehension concerning the running
10% of the domestic sludge produced in The Neder- conditions of this kind of industrial plants despite being
lands. This plug ¯ow reactor consists of three steel pipes highly experienced in wet air oxidation reactions in the
located in a shaft with a depth of 1200 m. The raw sus- laboratory. On the other hand, research departments
pension ¯ows downward through the inner part with are calling for computeraided tools intended to reduce
oxygen. At temperatures between 180 and 200 C, the pilot plant investigation before the ®nal design of an
oxidation of the organic ingredients starts. The oxidized industrial unit. So, an investigation program was started
liquor rises back to the surface through the outer part. at the laboratory on the design of such speci®c bubble
A part of the heat of reaction is transferred to cooling columns.
water, which ¯ows in the third pipe to limit the opera- Data for wet air oxidation reactions are available for
tion temperature to 280 C. The pressure is about 85 bar numerous carbon compounds [14] and the global per-
at the bottom of the reactor, but it simply results from formance of a bubble column reactor depends obviously
the hydrostatic pressure and does not require the use of on the kinetics of the chemical reaction. But, in addi-
high pressure pumps. The global treatment cost is tion, several other parameters (hydrodynamics, transfer,
reported to be only 425 Euro per ton dry solids, i.e. 18.5 thermodynamics) must be considered. The description
Euro mÿ3. Unfortunately, serious problems of scaling of the ¯uid dynamic ¯ow conditions [30] is related to the
and sedimentation of solids during operation have been liquid and gas circulation and axial dispersion proper-
reported. ties. Literature on mass transfer coecients in such
In 1998, the OTV Company (Vivendi group) has systems is abundant [24,31,32]. The thermodynamic
started a demonstration facility named ATHOS in behavior of the gas phase can be conveniently described
Toulouse (France) to treat the sludge from 50 000 inha- using the Peng and Robinson equation of state (EOS),
bitants. This facility uses a 2.5 mÿ3 bubble column and Henry's law for gas solubility allows the equili-
reactor with a circulation pump in order to prevent brium constants to be determined. But, wet air oxida-
sedimentation of the solids. The rated operating condi- tion can be used to treat very special process wastewater
tions are 235 C and 50 bar, with pure oxygen. The sys- and brine solutions and it appears that information is
tem was specially design to use a catalyst in order to needed on the solubility of carbon dioxide in water/salt
remove nitrogen [29]. solutions, in particular the activity coecient [33,34].
5.4. Derived facilities 6.1. The stagewise backmixing model for reactor design
Spent caustic liquors from ethylene manufacturing A basic diagram for a wet air oxidation unit is pre-
and petroleum re®ning are some of the nastiest waste- sented in Fig. 4. Typically, the column is 10 or 15 m
water's industry must deal with. These liquors contain high, with a diameter of about 1 m. The residence time
sodium carbonate, sodium sul®des, mercaptans, phenols for the liquid is about 1 h and just a very few minutes
and emulsi®ed hydrocarbons. They are classi®ed as for the gas. But assuming perfect mixing for the liquid
hazardous wastes, they are odorous, they are highly and plug ¯ow for the gas is not satisfactory for an
colored and they do not respond to biological treat- accurate design; the axial dispersion must be taken into
ment. Wet air oxidation is one of the most eective account for both phases. The most ecient method, on
technologies for treating these liquors and about ten a computational basis, is the stagewise backmixing
plants are in operation or under construction world-wide. model.
22 H. Debellefontaine, J.N. Foussard / Waste Management 20 (2000) 15±25
For a one-phase reactor, Mecklenburg and Hartland weight of the phases, allows the pressure in each cell to
[30] have developed a model where the reactor is divided be determined.
into `n' (usually about 10±25) identical cells. Each cell is
a perfectly mixed reactor connected to the previous one 1 l
jÿ1 Li
jÿ1 lj Li
j1
9
and to the following one, using a back¯ow ratio para- ÿ 1 lj l
jÿ1 Li;j ÿ rc;i;j rt;i;j 0
meter ``f'' linked with the Peclet (Bodenstein) number
for axial dispersion by Eq. (6) and having a unique
1 l
jÿ1 H1
jÿ1 lj H1
j1
value all along the reactor. But, wet air oxidation reac-
ÿ 1 lj l
jÿ1 H1;j ÿ H
tors are two-phase reactors and the ¯ow rate of each
10
phase can change signi®cantly throughout the reactor, 1
jÿ1 Hg
jÿ1 i Hg
j1
because of the thermal eect of the reaction that ÿ 1 i
jÿ1 Hg;j 0
vaporizes water. So the model is adapted by de®ning
back¯ow ratio parameters for each phase (`l' for the
liquid, `x' for the gas) and for each cell `j'. These para- 6.2. Equations, variables and problem resolution
meters are called local parameters, they depend on the
local ¯owrates and hydrodynamics conditions, accord- For any cell, once the partial ¯ows of each compound
ing to Eq. (7) for the liquid phase and Eq. (8) for the in the liquid and in the gas phase, the COD and TOC
gas. ¯ows in the liquid, the temperature and the pressure are
known, everything can be determined. The local gas
f 1=2 1 Axial dispersion coefficient composition, fugacity coecients, enthalpy, volumetric
6
n Pe Velocity Length properties, ¯ow and super®cial velocity can be deter-
ÿ mined by using the Peng and Robinson EOS with the
D1;j 1 ÿ "g;j usual mixing rules and interaction parameters [25,26].
lj ÿ 0:5 l0 l n 0
7
HcellU1 ;j For the liquid phase, the similar parameters are taken
from speci®c data for pure water, assuming that small
amounts of dissolved gases and organic compounds
j Dg;j "g;j =Hcell Ug;j ÿ 0:5 0 n 0
8
have no signi®cant eect on the volume and thermal
properties.
For an adiabatic cocurrent gas/liquid ¯ow pattern, The local chemical reaction rates can be determined
this model is presented in Fig. 5. For each cell and each from the slope of Eq. (2) (or Fig. 3) considering the
phase, the material balances are established as shown in temperature, the dissolved oxygen concentration and
Eq. (9), for water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and any other the 0 COD/COD00 (or TOC/TOC0) ratio, i.e. the local
component. The balances are also established for the COD (or TOC) ¯ux compared to the inlet one. The
chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the waste and for local gas hold-up, which depend mainly on the super-
the total organic carbon (TOC). The chemical reactions ®cial velocity of the gas can be determined using a spe-
take place only in the liquid phase and the organic ci®c correlation adapted from Oyevaar and Westterterp.
compounds are assumed to be nonvolatile. In addition, [32]. The local mass transfer coecients can be deter-
a thermal balance [Eq. (10)] assuming that the two mined from the correlation proposed by Akita and
phases have the same temperature takes into account Yoshida [24]. The local transfer rates can be determined
the heat of vaporization of water and the heat of the from Eq. (4). The local axial dispersion parameters in
oxidation reaction, i.e. 435 kJ (mol O2)ÿ1 [35]. A the liquid and in the gas are taken from correlations
hydraulic balance, taking into account the speci®c proposed by Joshi [36]. Thus, the back¯ow ration para-
meters are determined. As a conclusion, everything can
be determined from classical models or correlations
once the partial ¯ows of each compound in the liquid
and in the gas phase of each cell, the temperature of
each cell and the pressure of each cell are known.
For a mixture with `i' components (water, oxygen,
carbon dioxide, etc.) and a column divided into `n; cells,
a set of `n(2i+4)' local partial ¯ows, temperatures and
pressures, called variables is obtained. The solution is
obtained when the same `n(2i+4)' number of mass,
thermal and hydraulic balances [Eqs. (9) and (10)] are
closed. A computer program, using a Newton and
Fig. 5. Co-current bubble column reactor. Stagewise backmixing Raphson method, was developed in Fortran 77 by
model. Material balance on cell j. Reilhac, [37] to solve simultaneously the `n(2i+4)'
H. Debellefontaine, J.N. Foussard / Waste Management 20 (2000) 15±25 23
Fig. 7. Wet air oxidation. COD reduction pro®les versus height of Fig. 8. Wet air oxidation. Dependency of the COD removal eciency
reactor. Feed: T =260 C; Pressure =90 bar. on the oxidant ¯owrate Feed: T=280 C; Pressure=110 bar.
Table 1
Main characteristics used during the bubble column reactor simulation
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