ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE WASTE DISPOSAL BY HYDROTHERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF LABILE COMPOUNDS

摘要

The present invention relates to a process for the disposal of waste or the conversion of hydrothermally labile chemical groups and compounds to species which are environmentally acceptable, or are amendable to further degradation by conventional disposal systems to produce environmentally acceptable products, which process comprises: (a) conveying an aqueous solution or slurry of the waste material into a reaction zone capable of withstanding the temperatures and pressures of hydrothermal decomposition; (b) reacting the waste material in the reaction zone with an aqueous composition comprising catalyst selected from silica or one or more alkali metal silicates, borates, phosphates, biphosphates, or trisubstituted-phosphates, at between 200 DEG C and 500 DEG C and at a pressure between 10 and 400 atmospheres for between about 0.01 and 10 minutes; (c) producing compounds which are environmentally acceptable or are amenable to further degradation by conventional disposal systems; and (d) optionally degrading further the compounds of step (c) by reaction in a conventional disposal system such as biological sewage treatment. The waste includes dairy process waste, military waste, ordnance waste, chemical process waste, agricultural waste and the like.