• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.216-223
• /
• 2015

The present work explores the potential of wet air oxidation (WAO) for pretreatment of mixed lignocellulosic biomass to enhance enzymatic convertibility. Rice husk and wheat straw mixture (1:1 mass ratio) was used as a model mixed lignocellulosic biomass. Post-WAO treatment, cellulose recovery in the solid fraction was in the range of 86% to 99%, accompanied by a significant increase in enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose present in the solid fraction. The highest enzymatic conversion efficiency, 63% (by weight), was achieved for the mixed biomass pretreated at $195^{\circ}C$, 5 bar, 10 minutes compared to only 19% in the untreated biomass. The pretreatment under the aforesaid condition also facilitated 52% lignin removal and 67% hemicellulose solubilization. A statistical design of experiments on WAO process conditions was conducted to understand the effect of process parameters on pretreatment, and the predicted responses were found to be in close agreement with the experimental data. Enzymatic hydrolysis experiments with WAO liquid fraction as diluent showed favorable results with sugar enhancement up to $10.4gL^{-1}$.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.842-845
• /
• 2011

Wet air oxidation (WAO) of oily sludge was carried out using $Fe^{3+}$ as catalyst, placed in a 0.5 L batch autoclave in the temperature range of $250-330^{\circ}C$. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of temperature, the initial COD, reaction time, concentration of catalyst and $O_2$ excess (OE) on the oxidation of the oily sludge. The results showed that in the WAO 88.4% COD was achieved after 9 min reaction at temperature of $330^{\circ}C$, OE of 0.8 and the initial COD of 20000 mg/L. Temperature was found to have a significant impact on the oxidation of oily sludge. Adding a catalyst significantly improved the COD removal. Homogenous catalyst, $Fe^{3+}$, showed effective removal for pollutants. COD removal was 99.7% in the catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) over $Fe^{3+}$ catalyst. The results proved that the CWAO was an effective pretreatment method for the oily sludge.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.11
• /
• pp.2077-2083
• /
• 2000

For the application of wet air oxidation(WAO) process reactive dyes, remazol blacks has been selected as the subject for this study. The rate of decomposition relating to the reaction temperature and catalyst has been summarized during the catalytic wet air oxidation reaction. When 1.5 gram per liter of platinum is added titanium-dioxide and the partial pressure is adjusted to 6 atmosphere at the reaction temperature exceeding $200^{\circ}C$, more than 95% of the remazol blacks dyes were decomposed. When the reaction temperature was raised to $200^{\circ}C$, $220^{\circ}C$ and $250^{\circ}C$, respectively, for 240 minutes after adding the catalyst, the remaining rate of ultraviolet absorbance had dropped significantly to 18%, 12%, and 4%. At the reaction temperature of $250^{\circ}C$, color removal efficiency was approximately 95% or more after 120 minutes from the beginning of the reaction.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.12
• /
• pp.2403-2412
• /
• 2018

The present study was aimed at evaluating the effect of variable sodium carbonate ($Na_2CO_3$) loading during wet air oxidation (WAO) pretreatment of rice straw in reducing biomass recalcitrance. The research study was intended to increase the cellulose recovery, hemicellulose solubilization, lignin removal in the solid fraction and limiting the generation of inhibitors in the liquid fraction while reducing the chemical input. The operating condition of $169^{\circ}C$, 4 bar, 18 min and 6.5 g/L $Na_2CO_3$ loading resulted in maximum cellulose recovery of 82.07% and hemicellulose solubilization and lignin removal of 85.43% and 65.42%, respectively, with a total phenolic content of 0.36 g/L in the liquid fraction. The crystallinity index increased from 47.69 to 51.25 along with enzymatic digestibility with an increase in $Na_2CO_3$ loading from 0 to 6.5 g/L as a result of removal of barriers for saccharification via effective cleavage of ether and ester bonds cross-linking the carbohydrates and lignin as indicated by FT-IR spectroscopy. A further increase in the $Na_2CO_3$ loading to 9.5 g/L did not significantly increase the sugar release. Thus, it was concluded that 6.5 g/L $Na_2CO_3$ during WAO is sufficient to increase the delignification and deacetylation, leading to significant changes in apparent cellulose crystallinity inter alia improvement in cellulose accessibility and digestibility of rice straw.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.248-254
• /
• 2016

Efficacious wastewater treatment is essential for increasing sewage sludge volume and implementing strict environmental regulations. The operation cost of sludge treatment amounts up to 50% of the total costs for wastewater treatment plants, therefore, an economical sludge destruction method is crucially needed. Amid several destruction methods, wet air oxidation (WAO) can efficiently treat wastewater containing organic pollutants. It can be used not only for sludge destruction but also for useful by-product production. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs), one of many byproducts, is considered to be an important precursor of biofuel and chemical materials. Its high reaction condition has instituted the study of gravity pressure reactor (GPR) for an economical process of WAO to reduce operation cost. Simulation of subcritical condition was conducted using Aspen Plus with predictive Soave-Redlich-Kwong (PSRK) equation of state. Conjointly, simulation analysis for GPR depth, oxidizer type, sludge flow rate and oxidizer injection position was carried out. At GPR depth of 1000m and flow rate of 2 ton/h, the conversion and yield of VFAs were 92.02% and 0.17g/g, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.7
• /
• pp.746-752
• /
• 2005

In this study, the effect of reaction parameters including reaction temperature, time, and pressure on sludge degradation and conversion to intermediates such as organic acids were investigated at low critical wet air oxidation(LC-WAO) conditions. Degradation pathways and a modified kinetic model in LC-WAO were proposed and the kinetics model predictions were compared with experimental data under various conditions. Results in the batch experiments showed that reaction temperature directly affected the thermal hydrolysis reaction rather than oxidation reaction. The efficiencies of sludge degradation and organic acid formation increased with the increase of the reaction temperature and time. The removal of SS at $180^{\circ}C$, $200^{\circ}C$, $220^{\circ}C$ and $240^{\circ}C$ of reaction temperatures and 10 min of reaction time were 52.6%, 68.3%, 72.6%, and 74.4%, respectively, indicating that most organic suspended solids were liquified at early stage of reaction. At $180^{\circ}C$, $200^{\circ}C$, $220^{\circ}C$ and $240^{\circ}C$ of reaction temperatures and 40 min of reaction time, the amounts of organic acids formed from 1 g of sludge were 93.5 mg/g SS, 116.4 mg/g SS, 113.6 mg/g SS, and 123.8 mg/g SS, respectively, and the amounts of acetic acid from 1 g of sludge were 24.5 mg/g SS, 65.5 mg/g SS, 88.1 mg/g SS, and 121.5 mg/g SS, respectively. This suggested that the formation of sludge to organic acids as well as the conversion of organic acids to acetic acid increased with reaction temperature. Based on the experimental results, a modified kinetic model was suggested for the liquefaction reaction of sludge and the formation of organic acids. The kinetic model predicted an increase in kinetic parameters $k_1$ (liquefaction of organic compounds), $k_2$ (formation of organic acids to intermediate), $k_3$ (final degradation of intermediate), and $k_4$ (final degradation of organic acids) with reaction temperature. This indicated that the liquefaction of organic solid materials and the formation of organic acids increase according to reaction temperature. The calculated activation energy for reaction kinetic constants were 20.7 kJ/mol, 12.3 kJ/mol, 28.4 kJ/mol, and 54.4 kJ/mol, respectively, leading to a conclusion that not thermal hydrolysis but oxidation reaction is the rate-limiting step.