Forming effluents

Treat the effluent using incineration, biplogical digestion, etc. to a form suitable for discharge to the environment, called end-of -pipe treatment. 

When viewing effluent treatment methods, it is clear that the basic problem of disposing of waste material safety is, in many cases, not so much solved but moved from one place to another. The fundamental problem is that once waste has been created, it cannot be destroyed. The waste can be concentrated or diluted, its physical or chemical form can be changed, but it cannot be destroyed. 

For simple FI, the substance to be mass measured is volatilized by heating it close to the emitter so that its vapor can condense onto the surface of the electrode. In this form, an FI source can be used with gas chromatography, the GC effluent being passed over the emitter. However, for nonvolatile and/or thermally labile substances, a different approach must be used. 

ARCO has developed a coproduct process which produces KA along with propylene oxide [75-56-9] (95—97). Cyclohexane is oxidized as in the high peroxide process to maximize the quantity of CHHP. The reactor effluent then is concentrated to about 20% CHHP by distilling off unreacted cyclohexane and cosolvent tert-huty alcohol [75-65-0]. This concentrate then is contacted with propylene [115-07-1] in another reactor in which the propylene is epoxidized with CHHP to form propylene oxide and KA. A molybdenum catalyst is employed. The product ratio is about 2.5 kg of KA pet kilogram of propylene oxide. 

Inorganic flocculants are analyzed by the usual methods for compounds of this type. Residual metal ions in the effluent are measured by spectroscopic techniques such as atomic absorption. Polymeric aluminum species formed in solution have been characterized by Al-nmr (64). 

This reaction is first conducted on a chromium-promoted iron oxide catalyst in the high temperature shift (HTS) reactor at about 370°C at the inlet. This catalyst is usually in the form of 6 x 6-mm or 9.5 x 9.5-mm tablets, SV about 4000 h . Converted gases are cooled outside of the HTS by producing steam or heating boiler feed water and are sent to the low temperature shift (LTS) converter at about 200—215°C to complete the water gas shift reaction. The LTS catalyst is a copper—zinc oxide catalyst supported on alumina. CO content of the effluent gas is usually 0.1—0.25% on a dry gas basis and has a 14°C approach to equihbrium, ie, an equihbrium temperature 14°C higher than actual, and SV about 4000 h . Operating at as low a temperature as possible is advantageous because of the more favorable equihbrium constants. The product gas from this section contains about 77% H2, 18% CO2, 0.30% CO, and 4.7% CH. ... 

Polyelectrolytes based on ethyleneimine are also used to treat drinking water and process water, and as agents for preventing lime deposits (407) in water extraction. The binding power of PEI is utilized for the treatment of effluents (408). Biochemical reactions can be catalyzed by using the complex-forming properties of PEIs and their affinity for organic substrates (409). 

Another alternative involves the use of a weak acid cation exchanger in the hydrogen form. This resin is not capable of removing aH cations. It removes only the amount equivalent to the bicarbonate in the influent water. The acidity in the effluent stream is carbonic acid [463-79-6] which can be eliminated by installing a degasifter. 

When an aqueous effluent stream containing organomercurials cannot be recycled, it may be treated with chlorine to convert the organomercury to inorganic mercury. The inorganic compounds thus formed are reduced to metallic mercury with sodium borohydride. The mercury metal is drained from the reactor, and the aqueous solution discarded. The process utilising sodium borohydride is known as the Ventron process (27). 

The methyl a-hydroxyisobutyrate produced is dehydrated to MMA and water in two stages. First, the methyl a-hydroxyisobutyrate is vaporized and passed over a modified zeoHte catalyst at ca 240°C. A second reactor containing phosphoric acid is operated at ca 150°C to promote esterification of any methacrylic acid (MAA) formed in the first reactor (74,75). Methanol is co-fed to improve selectivity in each stage. Conversions of methyl a-hydroxyisobutyrate are greater than 99%, with selectivities to MMA near 96%. The reactor effluent is extracted with water to remove methanol and yield cmde MMA. This process has not yet been used on a commercial scale. 

Naphthalenol. 2-Naphthol or p-naphthol or 2-hydroxynaphthalene/7i3 -/5 -i7 melts at 122°C and boils at 295°C, and forms colorless crystals of characteristic, phenoHc odor which darken on exposure to air or light. 2-Naphthol [135-19-3] is manufactured by fusion of sodium 2-naphthalenesulfonate with sodium hydroxide at ca 325°C, acidification of the drowned fusion mass which is quenched ia water, isolation and water-washing of the 2-naphthalenol, and vacuum distillation and flaking of the product. A continuous process of this type has been patented (69). The high sulfate content ia the primary effluent from 2-naphthol production is greatiy reduced ia modem production plants by the recovery of sodium sulfate. 

Oxidation of cumene to cumene hydroperoxide is usually achieved in three to four oxidizers in series, where the fractional conversion is about the same for each reactor. Fresh cumene and recycled cumene are fed to the first reactor. Air is bubbled in at the bottom of the reactor and leaves at the top of each reactor. The oxidizers are operated at low to moderate pressure. Due to the exothermic nature of the oxidation reaction, heat is generated and must be removed by external cooling. A portion of cumene reacts to form dimethylbenzyl alcohol and acetophenone. Methanol is formed in the acetophenone reaction and is further oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid. A small amount of water is also formed by the various reactions. The selectivity of the oxidation reaction is a function of oxidation conditions temperature, conversion level, residence time, and oxygen partial pressure. Typical commercial yield of cumene hydroperoxide is about 95 mol % in the oxidizers. The reaction effluent is stripped off unreacted cumene which is then recycled as feedstock. Spent air from the oxidizers is treated to recover 99.99% of the cumene and other volatile organic compounds. 

The three chemical reactions in the toluene—benzoic acid process are oxidation of toluene to form benzoic acid, oxidation of benzoic acid to form phenyl benzoate, and hydrolysis of phenyl benzoate to form phenol. A typical process consists of two continuous steps (13,14). In the first step, the oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid is achieved with air and cobalt salt catalyst at a temperature between 121 and 177°C. The reactor is operated at 206 kPa gauge (2.1 kg/cm g uge) and the catalyst concentration is between 0.1 and 0.3%. The reactor effluent is distilled and the purified benzoic acid is collected. The overall yield of this process is beheved to be about 68 mol % of toluene. 

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