Supercritical Water Oxidation of Oily Wastes at Pilot Plant: Simulation for Energy Recovery

The destruction of industrial wastewaters by supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) has been studied intensively in the last two decades due to the powerful and promising advantages of this technology. However, the SCWO process is not yet commercially established due to several drawbacks that limit its application as a general treatment, process costs being one of those limitations. In an effort to enhance the viability of SCWO as a commercial process, a study was performed in a pilot plant (25 kg/h) used to treat industrial oily wastes by SCWO, and a simulation was carried out to evaluate the viability of energy production on an industrial scale. The SCWO pilot plant effluent is good for producing hot water or steam by recovering heat of waste organics. Both alternatives are evaluated for a SCWO industrial plant design with 1000 kg/h, with it being possible to recover a maximum of 118 kW, that is, 71% of the energy content of the wastewater.