Catalytic Dehydrohalogenation: A Chemical Destruction Method for Halogenated Organics

摘要

Dehydrohalogenation shows potential as a means for converting certain halogenated organics in wastes to inorganic salts and gaseous aliphatic compounds. Dehydrohalogenation is a dehalogenation/elimination reaction that is initiated by a strong base. The resulting products are the halide salt, water, and an elimination compound. A novel reagent, sodium or potassium hydroxide mixed with a polyethylene glycol, is a very effective dehydrohalogenation agent. The reagent is shown to dehalogenate six organic compounds that are representative of low molecular weight compounds encountered in hazardous wastes: CCl4, CHCl3, CH2Cl2, C2H4Br2, and CCl3NO2. Kinetics data for the reactions of the reagent with the six compounds is given to allow reactor design and calculation of destruction efficiency.