Physicochemical foundations and specificity of the practical application of supercritical water oxidation to the destruction of persistent organic pollutants

The theoretical and practical aspects of application of one of the most promising methods for the destruction of persistent organic pollutants, supercritical water oxidation, are discussed. The current state of research in the field of analysis and prediction of the critical parameters of systems with an arbitrary number of components, the behavior of the components in supercritical water-organic pollutant binary systems, and the specificity of supercritical fluids are considered. Various types of phase diagrams of binary systems are examined, and theoretical foundations for calculating the critical physicochemical parameters of multicomponent systems are presented. By the example of hexachlorocyclohexane (Lindane), one of the most toxic pesticides, calculations of the material and heat balance of the oxidation of pesticides with oxygen and hydrogen peroxide are performed. The calculations can be used in designing technological installations for the destruction of pollutants by the supercritical water oxidation.