Effects of potassium alkalis and sodium alkalis on the dechlorination of o-chlorophenol in supercritical water

Effects of potassium alkalis and sodium alkalis on the dechlorination of o-chlorophenol (o-CP) in supercritical water (SCW) were studied in this paper under the conditions of 450 °C and 25 MPa. Experimental results indicated that the dechlorination of o-CP can be accelerated significantly by all alkalis investigated. The dechlorination of o-CP proceeded mainly via two pathways: hydrodechlorination and hydrolysis. Both of the two pathways can be promoted by alkalis, and the dechlorination of o-CP can be accelerated by both the cations and hydroxide ion dissociated from alkalis. The overall dechlorination of o-CP can be accelerated by cations via promoting the hydrodechlorination pathway, while, hydroxide ion via promoting the hydrolysis pathway. In addition, the hydrodechlorination can be accelerated faster by sodium alkalis than that by potassium ones, while, the hydrolysis can be promoted faster by potassium alkalis. This difference may be caused by the different charge density between potassium ion and sodium ion, and the different solubility and dissociation constant between potassium alkalis and sodium alkalis in SCW. Dechlorination of o-CP with addition of alkalis prior to supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) process not only can avoid the reactor corrosion caused by the generated hydrochloric acid in direct SCWO of o-CP, but also can reduce the formation of toxic chlorinated byproducts compared with direct SCWO process or SCWO of o-CP with addition of alkali.