Environmental Applications of Hydrogen Peroxide

Pollutant Agriculture Animal processing Chemicals Food Horticulture Metals processing Mining Municipal waste Pharmaceutical Pulp and paper Refinery Soil remediation Tanneries Textile Timber Water (potable) Water (waste) 

0 = Hydrogen peroxide. = Other peroxygens. V = Advanced oxidation processes. 

The following areas will be covered in this chapter  

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The application of hydrogen peroxide for environmental clean-up has a pivotal role to play within the chemical industry. Indeed, such treatments have breathed new life into industries which have been classed as damaging to the environment, thus extending their lifetime. Whilst it will always be desirable to aim for zero effluent processes, it is only realistic to have in the armoury the ability to treat waste products end of pipe . Such end of pipe applications for peroxy-gens will enable more economic routes to industrially important products to be developed. 

The production of paper is the largest and fastest growing single application of hydrogen peroxide. This growth has fundamentally been driven by environmental issues, and a large quantity of new and improved technology has now been devised in response to this demand. 

The POCL reaction has been used for trace determinations of hydrogen peroxide, most commonly in environmental and clinical analysis [26-52], The latter applications often include various enzyme systems [34-52], where a number of substrates can be indirectly determined by measuring the hydrogen peroxide that is produced as a by-product in the enzymatic reaction. 

New reactor technologies are currently under development, and these include meso- and micro-structured reactors or the use of membranes. Among meso-structured reactors, monolithic catalysts play a pre-eminent role in environmental applications, initially in the cleaning of automotive exhaust gases. Beside this gas-solid application, other meso-structures such as membranes [57, 58], corrugated plate or other arranged catalysts and, of course, monoliths can be used as multiphase reactors [59, 60]. These reactors also offer a real potential for process intensification, which has already been demonstrated in commercial applications such as the production of hydrogen peroxide. 

The author hopes that the chapter has shown how the reactivity, and selectivity towards oxygen transfer reactions of hydrogen peroxide can be utilized for synthetic purposes. Generally, for laboratory and industrial application, activation of hydrogen peroxide by transition metal ions is the method of choice, although in a number of cases, the transition metal route can lead to disposal and environmental problems. The reaction of hydrogen peroxide with organic compounds can, therefore, provide a viable alternative to metal ion activation. 

Depending on the application, different kinds of support geometries such as pellets, monolithic honeycomb stmctures and fibers are used. Pressure drop induction becomes of importance when incorporating a catalyst to the reactor system. Pellets can contribute to relatively higher pressure drops. The monolithic honeycomb stmctures are technologically advanced and can offer low pressure drop induction. They are predominantly applied for environmental catalysis applications and hydrogen peroxide production. In order to lower the pressure drop in... 

The oxidation of organic compounds in liquid effluents is another environmental application of carbon catalysts, using air, oxygen, ozone, or hydrogen peroxide as oxidants. The reaction mechanisms in the liquid phase are more complex nevertheless, the following general conclusions can be drawn ... 

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