The Wet-Air Oxidation of Rum Distillery Wastes

摘要

The disposal of rum distillery wastes is one of the major problems facing the rum industry in Puerto Rico. Conventional biological treatment methods have been considered as likely candidates for treatment of the wastes. Their cost, however, has been found to be very high, mainly because of the high contents of organic matter of the material being handled. The study was aimed at determining the feasibility of oxidizing rum distillery wastes using a wet-air oxidation process, with and without catalysts. The aqueous-phase oxidation of rum distillery wastes was done batchwise at temperatures ranging from 350F to 550F and at air pressures from 500 psig to 2000 psig. The maximum percent conversions obtained were 67.2% in biochemical oxygen demand, 54.4% in chemical oxygen demend, 58.8% in total organic carbon, and 60.8% in total carbon.