Treatment of methyldiethanolamine wastewater using subcritical and supercritical water oxidation: parameters study, process optimization and degradation mechanism

Hydrogen-rich gas production via supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of oily sludge over waste tire-derived activated carbon impregnated with Ni: Characterization and optimization of activated carbon production

In this study, the production of activated carbon (AC) through the chemical activation of waste tire (WT) using H3PO4 and KOH for H2 production by SCWG of oily sludge (OS) donated by Persian Gulf Star Oil Company was investigated. H3PO4 was the best activating agent based on some pretests results, and then the synthesis of AC was optimized using Response Surface Methodology. Based on BET surface area of synthesized ACs, thirty combinations of the four variables namely; activation temperature (350-550 °C); activation time (1-4 h); H3PO4 to WT ratio (1-3 w.w-1); and H3PO4 concentration (20-40 wt%) were optimized. CHNS, TGA, FE-SEM, and EDS-mapping analyses were used to characterize the AC and catalyst synthesized in optimum condition (activation temperature: 450 °C; activation time: 2.5 h; H3PO4 to WT ratio: 2 w.w-1; and H3PO4 concentration: 40 wt%), which presented a surface area of 170 m2 g-1. Finally, Ni was impregnated on the optimized AC with different loadings (5-15 wt%) to evaluate its performance in H2 production by SCWG of OS. Although H2 yield in catalytic experiments was higher than that observed in non-catalytic experiment, results showed that the maximum H2 selectivity was 66% in SCWG of OS using AC impregnated with 10 wt% Ni.

Insight into the application of supercritical water oxidation for dichlorvos degradation: experimental and simulation aspects

Dichlorvos or 2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate (DDVP) ( C 4 H 7 C l 2 O 4 P ) is a chlorinated organophosphorus pesticide, which is frequently detected in agricultural wastewater. Herein, a batch reactor was used to carry out the supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) of a synthetic wastewater containing dichlorvos as a very hazardous agricultural pollutant. To do so, the impact of four operating parameters including dichlorvos concentration (100-500 ppm), oxidant coefficient (0.7-2), temperature (300-500°C) and time (0-100 s) on dichlorvos removal was optimized by the response surface method (RSM). According to the obtained results, at optimal conditions (i.e. initial concentration of dichlorvos 107.5 ppm, oxidation ratio 1.9234, temperature 419.9°C and time 79.94 s), as an index for dichlorvos removal, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was found to be about 96.34%. Also, the results of high-performance liquid chromatography test showed that dichloroacetaldehyde (C2CL2H2O) and dichloroacetic acid (C2CL2H2O2) were created as intermediate substances during the dichlorvos degradation. Further, the molecular dynamics simulation was performed using ReaxFF force field to show the reaction path and products obtained in each step of the dichlorvos removal. Finally, as an indication, the simulation results indicated a good coordination with the experimental results.

Degradation of antibiotic amoxicillin from pharmaceutical industry wastewater into a continuous flow reactor using supercritical water gasification

In recent years the concern with emerging pollutants in water has become more prominent, especially pharmaceutical residues, such as antibiotics due to the influence to increase antibacterial resistance. Further, conventional wastewater treatment methods have not demonstrated efficiency for the complete degradation of these compounds, or they have limitations to treat a large volume of waste. In this sense, this study aims to investigate the degradation of amoxicillin, one of the most prescribed antibiotics, in wastewater via supercritical water gasification (SCWG) using a continuous flow reactor. For this purpose, the process operating conditions of temperature, feed flow rate, and concentration of H₂O₂ was evaluated using Experimental Design and Response Surface Methodology techniques and optimized by Differential Evolution methodology. Total organic carbon (TOC) removal, chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradability, reaction time, amoxicillin degradation rate, toxicity of degradation by-products, and gaseous products were evaluated. The use of SCWG for treatment achieved 78.4% of the TOC removal for the industrial wastewater. In the gaseous products, hydrogen was the majority component. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography analyses demonstrated that the antibiotic amoxicillin was degraded. For a mass flow rate of 15 mg/min of amoxicillin fed into the reaction system, 14.4 mg/min was degraded. Toxicity tests with microcrustacean Artemia salina showed slight toxicity to treated wastewater. Despite that, the outcomes reveal the SCWG has great potential to degrade amoxicillin and may be applied to treat several pharmaceutical pollutants. Aside from this, carbon-rich effluents may lead to a significant energy gaseous product, especially, hydrogen and syngas.