ABSTRACT
Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a chemical process technology that can be used for treating hazardous and mixed wastes. It is applied most economically to aqueous wastes with between 1 and 20 wt% organic carbon. Such wastes are too concentrated to treat economically by adsorption or some other separation process, and they are too dilute to treat economically by incineration. Of course, economics does not always dictate the choice of treatment technology. SCWO possesses other attractive features, as delineated in subsequent paragraphs, that make it a candidate treatment technology for high-risk wastes.
