Oxidación en agua supercrítica como alternativa emergente para el tratamiento de los lodos provenientes de las plantas de aguas residuales.

Abstract

In the present work, a bibliographic review about supercritical water oxidation is made, describing its concept, detailing the operation process and a series of studies that have been made by different organizations and authors, treating different pollutants, obtaining positive results for this technology; and from where, a series of advantages and disadvantages are enumerated, that this one has, in front of other conventional technologies. Likewise, the importance of treating the sewage sludge obtained from the treatment of domestic wastewater, through the OASC, to be safely disposed of, and to prevent environmental pollution and minimize public health risks, is emphasized. The monographic content also highlights the progress that the OASC has made over the years, beginning in the United States and extending the interest to Asia, Europe and finally South America; arriving in Colombia, where there is knowledge of the registration of a patent by the Universidad del Valle, being the first Colombian patent registered in China (2013), a prototype that uses the OASC to eliminate 99.9999% of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which are toxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic pollutants, in addition to accumulating in the food chain; This shows that despite the problems this technology presents in terms of corrosion, it continues to evolve and project itself as a clean and effective technology for the elimination of contaminants in the future. With the culmination of the monograph, we want to contribute and highlight the importance of the use of emerging technologies as opposed to other conventional ones, in this case supercritical water oxidation for the treatment of sludge from the WWTPs, showing itself to be a reasonable option that respects the environment and achieves the elimination of those toxic residues that cannot be destroyed by any conventional technology, and that far from having decreased the interest in the OASC process, there has been an increase in research work and industrial projects that aim to implement this technology in the near future, making it clear that more support is needed from government entities, which will support and facilitate the development of these projects and open up the field to new research.