Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation (CWAO) of Industrial Wastewaters: Mechanistic Evidences, Catalyst Development and Kinetic Modeling

Huge water consumptions and pollutants releases of in the environment urge effective water decontamination technologies enabling extensive recycle/reuse of industrial process-water and wastewater. The heterogeneous catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) offers a practical solution to the problem of decontamination of industrial effluents characterised by high concentration of toxic-refractory compounds, which are also detrimental for the active sludge of biological systems. Therefore, this work shows the superior CWAO performance of a new class of nanostructured MnCeOx catalysts toward the mineralization of some common toxic and refractory industrial pollutants. Systematic evidences on reaction mechanisms lead to a formal kinetic model predicting the CWAO performance of nanostructured MnCeOx catalysts and optimum reaction conditions.