Three-phase reactors for environmental remediation: catalytic wet oxidation of phenol using active carbon

Wet oxidation of phenol aqueous solutions was carried out in a fixed bed re actor operating in trickle flow regime. Mild conditions of temperature (140 degrees C) and oxygen partial pressure (1-9 bar) were used. Three active c arbons and one commercially available supported copper catalyst were tested as catalytic material. Previous studies demonstrated that active carbon gi ves higher phenol conversion than conventional oxidation catalysts, althoug h significant loss of active carbon due to combustion was also found. In th e present study, the combustion of the active carbon during the process is highly reduced by lowering the oxygen partial pressure from 9 to 2 bar, mai ntaining an acceptable phenol conversion. The comparison of the performance of three different active carbons shows that their physical and chemical c haracteristics largely influence on the phenol conversion achieved. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.