The modar process for the destruction of hazardous organic wastes—Field test of a pilot-scale unit

Abstract The MODAR process for destruction of hazardous organic waste materials employs an oxidation reaction to convert organic compounds to CO 2 , H 2 O and, when heteroatoms are present, inorganic compounds. The reaction is carried out in a flowing aqueous stream heated and pressurized above the critical point of water. Residence times of less than one minute are usually sufficient to reduce the concentrations of all organic compounds to levels below analytical detection limits. The pilot-scale MODAR unit is skid-mounted and transportable by truck. It measures 12.2 m × 2.6 m × 2.9 m and can process 190 liters of organic liquid or 1900 liters of a 10% organic in water solution per day. In-house testing with pure chemicals and mixtures of chemicals confirmed that the pilot-scale unit met or exceeded the destruction efficiencies achieved with a laboratory-scale unit. A pilot-scale field test, conducted on toxic waste material, demonstrated that the MODAR process could destroy organic compounds with greater than 99.99% efficiency.