Supercritical water oxidation of dioxins and furans in waste incinerator fly ash, sewage sludge and industrial soil

Safari Zainal, Jude A. Onwudili, Paul T. Williams*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Three environmental samples containing dioxins and furans have been oxidized in the presence of hydrogen peroxide under supercritical water oxidation conditions. The samples consisted of a waste incinerator fly ash, sewage sludge and contaminated industrial soil. The reactor system was a batch, autoclave reactor operated at temperatures between 350°C and 450°C, corresponding to pressures of ~20-33.5 MPa and with hydrogen peroxide concentrations from 0.0 to 11.25 vol%. Hydrogen peroxide concentration and temperature/pressure had a strong positive effect on the oxidation of dioxins and furans. At the highest temperatures and pressure of supercritical water oxidation of 450°C and 33.5 MPa and with 11.25 vol% of hydrogen peroxide, the destruction efficiencies of the individual polychlorinated dibenzo-ρ-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) isomers were between 90% and 99%. There did not appear to be any significant differences in the PCDD/PCDF destruction efficiencies in relation to the different sample matrices of the waste incinerator fly ash, sewage sludge and contaminated industrial soil.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1823-1830
Number of pages8
JournalEnvironmental Technology (United Kingdom)
Volume35
Issue number14
Early online date27 Feb 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Jul 2014

Keywords

  • Dioxin
  • Fly ash
  • PCDD
  • Sewage sludge
  • Soil
  • Supercritical water oxidation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Supercritical water oxidation of dioxins and furans in waste incinerator fly ash, sewage sludge and industrial soil'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this