SUPERCRITICAL WATER OXIDATION OF SOLID PARTICULATES

In the application of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) to the trea tment of aqueous solid wastes, particle size will be an important proc essing parameter. The particle size will impact feed preparation requi rements such as slurry concentration, pumping requirements, and, in te rms of the destruction of the solid particles, rate of reaction and re actor size. To address these issues, an experimental research program was undertaken to evaluate the effect of particle size on the reaction kinetics in SCWO of solid particulates (wheat straw and cellulose par ticles in this case). The experiments also included evaluation of the effects of temperature, pressure, dissolution period followed by a lon ger particle reaction period. Empirically based mathematical relations hips were developed that can be used for SCWO system design.