1. Deconstruction of waste personal protective equipment (PPE) using subcritical wet air oxidation.
- Author
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Javid, Faisal, Xin, Xing, Anderson, William A., Derraik, José G.B., Anderson, Yvonne C., and Baroutian, Saeid
- Subjects
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PERSONAL protective equipment , *TOTAL suspended solids , *CHEMICAL oxygen demand , *PROPIONIC acid , *WASTE minimization - Abstract
Wet air oxidation (WAO) of the PPE mixture was performed at temperatures ranging from 300 °C to 350 °C, with initial air pressures of 30 bar and 60 bar, respectively. Total suspended solids (TSS) were reduced by up to 99%, while total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) were significantly reduced to 360 mg/L and 110 mg/L, respectively. The main products were volatile fatty acids such as acetic and propionic acids and ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) with concentrations of up to 1117 mg/L, 975 mg/L, and 18 mg/L, respectively. Nitrogen and oxygen were the most abundant gaseous products, reaching 72% (w/w) and 14% (w/w), respectively. Semi-batch WAO treatments were carried out at 300 °C and 350 °C to achieve comparable waste reduction. The results suggest that non-catalytic WAO is a viable PPE waste management solution. [Display omitted] • Up to 98.8% of the mixture of selected single-use PPE items was deconstructed. • Up to 18 mg/L ammonia was detected in the resultant reaction mixture. • Volatile fatty acids, mainly acetic acid up to 1117 mg/L was produced. • Nitrogen and oxygen were the primary gaseous products in the off-gas stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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