Decomposition of Organic Chlorine Compounds by Applying Reticulated Iron as Reducing Agent

Decomposition of tetrachloroethylene in the aqueous phase was studied by applying porous reticulated iron (specific surface area 0.32 m2/g; porosity rate 89%; bulk density 0.8) as the reducing agent. The following results were obtained. 1) The reduction reaction of tetrachloroethylene aby using reticulated iron is a first order reaction and the reaction stoichiometry is as follow; Fe+1/4C2Cl4+1/4O2+5/2H2O→Fe (OH) 3+1/4C2H4+HCl 2) Reticulated iron is effective in decomposing tetrachloroethylene by using of its large specific surface area. 3) The degree of decomposition of tetrachloroethylene is determined by the amount of iron ion dissolved into aqueous phase from the reticulated iron and the following relationship was obtained. K=0.002W W (g dm-3) is the amount of reticulated iron used in the experiments and K (mg/dm3·h) is apparent decomposition rate constant. 4) During the process of decomposition or tetrachloroethylene, a slow stagnation of decomposition occured. This slow stagnation is caused by accumulation of ironoxy-hydrooxide and is easily avoided by adding CaCl2.