The “Watercatox” process: Wet air oxidation of industrial effluents in a catalytic membrane reactor

A new and innovative method for oxidation of dissolved compounds in water – the “Watercatox” process – has been developed in order to reduce the chemical oxygen demand and the total organic carbon in industrial wastewaters. This process is the result of a European Fifth Framework Program project. It can operate at much lower temperatures and pressures than conventional wet air oxidation or incineration, and it offers much smaller volume requirements than biological treatment plants. The operating principle of the Watercatox process is the oxidation of the dissolved molecules using oxygen from air within a catalytic membrane reactor in an interfacial contactor configuration. The catalytic contactor membranes, as well as the operating conditions, have been up-scaled from lab-scale to pilot unit. The technological efficiency was demonstrated by the results obtained using the pilot test unit on different industrial effluents from several origins.