Collivignarelli, M.C., M. Vaccari, A. Abba, M. Canato, and S. Sorlini.
Environments 5(6):Article 69(2018)

Typical wet oxidation (WO) treatment conditions for sludge and hazardous wastes reported in the literature are as follows: 200-325°C, 5000-17,500 kPa pressure, and 15-120 min reaction time. In an assessment of the feasibility of using a WO process for treating fine soil with a high level of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), one soil sample was spiked with motor oil and the other with motor oil + diesel. The samples were subjected to a WO bench plant test to investigate the effect of temperature and reaction time on TPHs removal. Independent of the kind of contamination (motor oil or a mix of motor oil and diesel), 250°C represents the temperature at which the normative constraint of 750 mg(TPHs)/kg_dw can be reached. A strong reduction (>85%) was obtained with the typical working conditions of a full-scale plant (250°C and 30 min reaction time). Characterization of the solid residue resulting from the WO process to evaluate recovery options showed that contaminant content complied with Italian regulations for commercial and industrial site use. This paper is Open Access at https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/5/6/69.