Summary
In the chemical process industry toxic or non-biodegradable waste waters, often containing halogenated organics, are produced in large quantities. Electrochemical reduction may be a suitable method for the treatment of these waste waters. In order to evaluate its feasibility, research is in progress on a number of representative organohalogens chosen from the EC list of 129 priority compounds (70% of them being chlorinated organics). As electrode material graphite/carbon fibres are used, for their properties make them very suitable for the development of a technical process. In this paper results are presented for eight chlorinated hydrocarbons from the EC-priority list. The experiments performed have shown that it is possible to remove all chlorine atoms from the organic molecules in aqueous solution. This ‘dehalogenation’ results in a decreased toxicity and an increased biodegradability, thus enabling further biological treatment. Energy consumption and conversion rates are such that a technically and economically viable method for the detoxification of waste waters can be developed.
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© 1987 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
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Schmal, D., van Erkel, J., de Jong, A.M.C.P., van Duin, P.J. (1987). Electrochemical Treatment of Organohalogens in Process Waste Waters. In: De Waal, K.J.A., Van Den Brink, W.J. (eds) Environmental Technology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3663-8_33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3663-8_33
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