Supercritical water oxidation
Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of recalcitrant and hazardous wastes such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The pioneer works on high-pressure supercritical water flames were carried out by professor EU Franck at the German University of Karlsruhe in the late 80s.
The rising needs for waste treatment and destruction methods motivated a Japanese Group in the Ebara Corporation to explore SCW flames as an environmental tool.
[6] In mid-1992, Thomas G. McGuinness, PE invented what is now known as the "transpiring-wall SCWO reactor" (TWR) while seconded to Los Alamos National Laboratory on behalf of Summit Research Corporation.
The bottom end of the TWR incorporates a "quench cooler" for cooling the reaction byproducts while neutralizing any components that might form acids during transition to subcritical temperature.
Widespread commercial application of SCWO technology requires a reactor design capable of resisting fouling and corrosion under supercritical conditions.
[1] In Europe, Chematur Engineering AB of Sweden commercialized the SCWO technology for treatment of spent chemical catalysts to recover the precious metal, the AquaCat process.
AquaNova Technologies, Inc. https://aquanovatech.com is actively commercializing their 2nd-generation transpiring-wall SCWO reactor ("TWR") with a focus on waste treatment and renewable energy applications.
AquaNova's patent-pending TWR-SCWO technology is projected to treat a broad variety of wastes, including PFAS, while generating electric power with improved system thermal efficiency.
It is spun out after more than seven years of research and development funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Prof. Deshusses laboratory based at Duke University.
[15] Aquarden Technologies (Skaevinge, Denmark) provides modular SCWO plants for the destruction of hazardous pollutants such as PFAS, pesticides, and other problematic hydrocarbons in industrial wastestreams.
