WET OXIDATION OF BAYER LIQUOR ORGANICS: REACTION MECHANISMS

摘要

Wet oxidation (WO) has the potential to become a preferred technology for the removal of organic contaminants from Bayer process liquors. Better understanding of the reaction mechanisms involved in the degradation of organic compounds by oxygen in strong caustic soda solutions is a key aspect of the technology development required to bring this to reality. Sodium malonate is a component of most Bayer liquors which has been shown to be unusually reactive and to have the potential to promote reactions in other species. The work reported here uses ~(13)C NMR to provide the first direct evidence of the key species involved in the oxidation of malonate and its derivatives. The relative reactivities of several dicarboxylates commonly present in Bayer liquors explained in terms their molecular structures.