ABSTRACT
Several commercial methods are currently employed to treat hazardous chemical compounds at industrial scale. The traditional method is incineration, which is limited both fundamentally and politically. The treatment of difficult-to-combust compounds (e.g., halocarbons) requires very high temperatures that are usually achieved by employing a two-stage process and the addition of fuel such as natural gas. Hightemperature processes do not necessarily destroy all the hazardous material and also generate undesirable by-products such as dioxins, furans, NOx, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. In the present regulatory climate, the permitting of a hazardous waste incinerator is very slow, laborious, and expensive. Other commercial processes are available (catalytic oxidation/reduction, UV/ozone/hydrogen peroxide, and supercritical water), but do not have broad-range applicability, are both treatment- and cost-sensitive to the targeted species, operate at very high temperatures and/or pressures, and sometimes employ precious or poisonous metals.
