ABSTRACT
Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) technology was invented by Dr. Michael Modell in the 1980s, followed by a substantial increase in the amount of research on SCWO in areas including reaction kinetics salt nucleation and growth materials compatibility and corrosion physical property measurements and reaction/system modeling. SCWO is a promising technology, and a wide variety of industrial wastewaters could be treated by SCWO. The greatest obstacle to successful implementation of SCWO is corrosion. Under highly oxidizing conditions during the oxidation of hydrocarbons, the formation of acids induces the chemically aggressive environments. High investment costs are necessary based on the nature and characteristics of the SCWO process. Salt separation can be performed before, during, and after reaction through centrifuge reactor, hydrocyclone, or a reactor with rotational spin. A fine-crystalline, slimy “shock precipitate” is formed when a subcritical salt-containing solution is rapidly heated to supercritical temperatures.
