WET OXIDATION OF TOXIC ORGANIC SUBSTANCES
C. Robert Baillod, Professor
Richard A. Lamparter, Research Engineer
David G. Leddy, Associate Professor
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, Michigan 49931
INTRODUCTION
The treatment and safe disposal of hazardous organic waste material in an environmentally acceptable manner and at a reasonable cost is a topic of great national importance. Many
toxic organics are long lived in the natural environment and resistant to biological breakdown. Destruction of these organic waste materials can be achieved by oxidation to carbon
dioxide, water and inorganic forms of nitrogen sulfur and chlorine. There are several processes that may be employed to achieve oxidation of waste organic materials. These are: (a)
Chemical Oxidation (using oxidizing agents such as ozone); (b) Biological Oxidation; (c) Wet
Oxidation; and (d) Incineration.
The choice of which process is best suited to a waste stream will depend upon the nature
of the particular waste, and the concentration of the stream. Figure 1 shows a conceptual
relationship between process cost and concentration of organic pollutant [ 1 ]. For low concentrations of labile organics, chemical oxidation may be suitable. For higher concentrations of biodegradable organic compounds, biological oxidation processes such as activated
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INCINERATION-
Figure 1. Conceptual relationship between process
costs and influent organic concentration.
0 10
INFLUENT   ORGANIC  CONCENTRATION
ppm
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sludge may be most cost effective.   As the concentration of organic material increases
beyond 30%, high temperature incineration becomes practical.   Wet oxidation is ideally
suited to liquid wastes which are too dilute to incinerate by dry combustion and two refractory to handle by chemical and biological oxidation. Many of the toxic organic substances
regulated by Section 307 of the 1977 Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act (PL95-217) are resistant to biological degradation and may be present in various industrial waste streams. The objective of this research was to investigate the utility of the wet
oxidation process in the destruction of typical priority pollutants.
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