Supercritical water oxidation of sludges contaminated with toxic organic chemicals

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a proven technology for the treatme nt of contaminated organic wastes. Bench and pilot-scale work completed at The University of Texas at Austin's SCWO Laboratory have proven the technol ogy effective for treating a variety of sludge types, including sludge cont aminated with hazardous compounds. The studies included pulp and paper mill sludges and sludges derived from the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters. The results presented in this paper confirmed that the remova l of the organic component of sludge, including the trace toxic organic com pounds, using SCWO exceeded 99.9%. For example, the results show that the d estruction removal efficiencies (DRE's) of the PCBs reached 99.99% in the c ontaminated sludge. No dioxins or furans were detected in the gaseous afflu ent resulting from the treatment of the PCB-contaminated sludge. These resu lts demonstrate the technical effectiveness of SCWO as a sludge remediation technology.