Wet peroxide oxidation and catalytic wet oxidation of oily sludge

Wet Peroxide Oxidation (WPO) and Catalytic Wet Oxidation (CWO) of oily sludge were investigated. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal of greater than 80% from oily sludge was achieved using MnCl₂ catalysed Wet Oxidation (WO) under the following conditions using a 0.5L batch reactor: temperature is 330°C and concentration of MnCl₂ is 200 mg/L. Greater than 90% COD removal was achieved using WPO under the following conditions: temperature is 330°C,residence time is 9min, H₂O₂ excess (HE) is 0.8 and initial COD is 20,000 mg/L. Significantly more COD could be removed from oily sludge by adding H₂O₂ in small doses.It was concluded that WPO was a far more effective process for removing organic compounds from oily sludge.