A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor

Al-Atta, Ammar; Huddle, Thomas; Rodr�guez, Yoana Garc�a; Mato, Fidel; Garc�a-Serna, Juan; Cocero, Mar�a J.; Gomes, Rachel; Lester, Edward

Abstract

A combined process of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) and supercritical water hydrothermal synthesis (SCWHS) in a continuous counter current reactor is reported. Acrylic acid was used as a model unsaturated carboxylic acid compound and the effects of the reaction temperature, residence time, oxidant ratio and acrylic acid concentration on chemical oxygen demand (COD) were all investigated. Two different experimental configurations for oxidant delivery were carried out in ‘pre-heated’ and ‘non-preheated’ oxidant configurations. With a stoichiometric excess of 100% oxygen, COD reduction levels of 80% (non-preheated) and 15% (preheated) were achieved with very short residence times. SCWHS was achieved through the addition of small amounts of various soluble metal salts in the cold upflow resulted in nanoparticles forming which increased the reaction rate and hydrothermal oxidation efficiency. The addition of small amounts of chromium nitrate (>5mM) results in nearly 100% COD reduction at 380 °C and residence times of 0.75 s. The potential economic benefits of combining the two processes together, in the different configurations, were also evaluated.

Citation

Al-Atta, A., Huddle, T., Rodríguez, Y. G., Mato, F., García-Serna, J., Cocero, M. J., Gomes, R., & Lester, E. (2018). A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor. Chemical Engineering Journal, 344, 431-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.03.058

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 12, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Mar 13, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2020
• Journal: Chemical Engineering Journal
• Print ISSN: 1385-8947
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 344
• Pages: 431-440
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.03.058
• Keywords: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering; General Chemistry; General Chemical Engineering; Environmental Chemistry
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1218874
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894718304169?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor; Journal Title: Chemical Engineering Journal; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.03.058; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.