DESTRUCTION OF USED TRANSFORMER OILS BY SUPERCRITICAL WATER OXIDATION IN A CONTINUOUS PILOT SCALE PLANT

摘要

There is a current international commitment for eliminating the identified stock of polychlorinated byphenils (PCBs), which were widely used in the past as dielectrics in electrical transformers. For example, a preliminary inventory of PCBs in Colombia accounted for the existence of two thousand tons of transformer oils contaminated with PCBs, although this figure might be five times larger. The concentration of PCBs in contaminated transformer oils is in the 500 - 1000 ppm range, which is the result of a recurrent mixing process of fresh mineral oil in already contaminated transformers. Incineration is the only approved technology for disposal of these wastes, but because there are not facilities in Colombia, the disposal is carried out overseas, which is economically nonviable for many industries. The same situation conceivable occurs in many other countries.