Cutting oils are emulsionable fluids widely used in metalworking processes.
Their composition is normally oil, water, and additives (fatty acids, surf
actants, biocides, etc.) generating a toxic waste after a long use. General
ly, it is a waste too dilute to be incinerated and it is difficult to treat
biologically. Other conventional treatment methods currently used are not
satisfactory from the environmental point of view.
Wet air oxidation (WAO) and supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) are two fa
rms of hydrothermal oxidation that have been proved to be effective process
es to treat a wide variety of industrial wastes, but hardly tested for oily
wastes. In the case of refractory wastes, WAO process is not efficient eno
ugh due to the moderate temperatures used. SCWO is a more powerful process
since operating temperatures are usually around 600 degreesC, but the use o
f severe conditions leads to major disadvantages in the commercialization o
f the technology.
In order to enhance WAO and SCWO efficiency at mild conditions, the use of
free radical promoters has been studied in this work. Both normal and promo
ted hydrothermal oxidation have been tested to treat cutting oil wastes in
a continuous flow system operating at 300-500 degreesC. Hydrogen peroxide h
as been used both as a source of oxygen and as a source of free radicals by
introducing it into the reactor with or without previous thermal decomposi
tion, respectively. Organic material is easily oxidized in both cases, obta
ining more than 90% TOC reduction in less than 10 s at 500 degreesC. At low
er temperatures, the use of promoters clearly enhances the oxidation proces
s. Activation energies have beer. estimated for normal and promoted oxidati
on processes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.