Supercritical Water Oxidation

Basics

• A Technology where Supercritical Conditions are used in a Water Rich Mixture to Oxidize (Often in a manner to Incineration ) It's Components
• It is mainly used for Wastewater Treatment , but also has applications in Thermal Hydrocarbon Cracking and Hazardous Waste Disposal
• When applied to the disposal of hazardous waste it has a high Destruction and Removal Efficiency
• Supercritical Water is a Non-Polar Solvent, so most minerals precipitate as salts
  • This is actually one of the main issues with the technology, in Radially Heated / Non-Cooled + Laminar Flow Reactors, the sides get coated in precipitate, reducing heat transfer
    • Also if not made with something very corrosion resistant such as Inconel etc the reactor can corrode and explode
  • Also because of this oxygen and hydrocarbons diffuse very well

Internal Links

• Hydrothermal Flame (This is a flame in supercritical water of a fuel-oxidizer mix, it is common in SCWO, but not necessarily needed (Homogenous Reaction) (citation needed on that) )
• Hydrothermal Flame Drilling

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Supercritical Water Oxidation
• The Enviro Wiki Page on Supercritical Water Oxidation
• A Video by the YouTube Channel " NASA Technology Transfer Program " Titled "NASA's Supercritical Water Oxidation Reactor Webinar"
• A 2009 Paper Titled "SIMULATION OF SCWO PROCESS IN TRANSITORY STATE"
  • "In a conventional SCWO waste treatment system, dilute aqueous organic waste is combined with oxidizer at elevated pressure and temperature in a reactor for residence times on the order of 10 to 15 seconds. For most wastes, these conditions are sufficient to achieve ≥99,99% Destruction and Removal Efficiencies (DRE)."
• A 2017 Paper Titled "Upgrading of Heavy Oil in Supercritical Water using an Iron based Multicomponent Catalyst"
• A 2015 Paper Titled "Supercritical water oxidation with hydrothermal flame as internal heat source: Efficient and clean energy production from waste"
• A 2015 Paper Titled "Energetic approach of biomass hydrolysis in supercritical water."
• A 2014 Paper Titled "Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) of Solid, Liquid and Gaseous Fuels for Energy Generation"