The Separation of Particulates from Supercritical Water Oxidation Processes

Small hydrocyclones with batch underflow receivers were assessed for their ability to separate micron-sized particulates from near-critical water solutions. Such particulates are expected from the effluent of a supercritical water oxidation reactor. The separation of micron-sized quartz silica, zirconia, and titania particles was investigated. An empirical expression was developed for the prediction of gross removal efficiencies as a function of a Stokes' number. Particle size distributions provided grade efficiencies for all experiments, and from these data, cut sizes were determined. Gross efficiencies up to 99% were observed for zirconia; cut sizes (d90 and d95) near one micron were measured.