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Catalytic Processes for

Environmental Use
solution to a high profile
environmental problem.
Based on conventional alkaline bleach scrubbing the
ODORGARD Process utilizes a catalyst to convert
the s o d i u m h y p o c h l o r i t e
molecule into brine and a
highly reactive oxygen
atom held on the surface
of the catalyst. It is this
oxygen species which is
r e s p o n s i b l e for the enhancement in scrubbing efficiency both in the level to
which particular
compounds are oxidized and
the range of c o m p o u n d s
that can be oxidized. The
reaction which takes place
over the catalyst can be
s u m m a r i z e d thus:

n order to develop and

market a range of heterogeneously
cata/ysed processes designed
to s o l v e persistent effluent
p r o b l e m s a r i s i n g in the
chemical and related process industries, ICI Katalco
established its OXISPEC TM
Business. The main aim of
the business is to utilize
catalysis to increase the
efficiency of effluent treatment, thus o f f e r i n g low
capital cost solutions for
the t r e a t m e n t of d i l u t e
s t r e a m s r e m a i n i n g after
waste minimization. Keith
Kelly and Jane Butcher, ICI
Katalco, UK describe some
of the products and processes involved.

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FIGURE 2:TYPICAl. REMOVAl. OFAMMONIA AND AMINES ATA

MEAT RENDERERS (MEAT PROCESSING) USING A SINGLE
STAGE ODORGARD SYSTEM
Conc.ln
(ppm)

Ammonia
Amines
Mercaptans
Hydrogensulphide
Odour

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4
0.5
0.5

Z
m

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(ppm)

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ODOUR AND LOW-LEVEL

VOC A B A T E M E N T

Use of the catalytic system

a l l o w s efficient scrubbing
of a wide range of odorous
c o m p o u n d s and low-level
VOCs in a s i n g l e s t a g e
without the by-production
of c h l o r i n a t e d o r g a n i c s
and with h i g h l y efficient
use of the chemicals (sodium hypochlorite).
Effective and retro-fittable to e x i s t i n g s c r u b b e r
systems, the ODORGARD
Process utilises traditional
h a r d w a r e and control systems to add a new dimen-

Developed in conjunction
with Dr F.H.H. Valentin, ICI
K a t a l c o ' s ODORGARD T M
Process offers catalytically
enhanced odour and lowlevel VOC (volatile organic
compound) destruction,
using a heterogeneous supported nickel catalyst in a
fixed-bed reactor.
With patents for both the
catalyst and process being
granted around the world,
the process is recognized
as a unique and practical

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Figure 3: Comparison of efficiency of removal of organicsulphides of

ODORGARD (with catalyst), conventional bleach scrubbing (without
catalyst) and one and two stage biofiltration
s i g n to h i g h e f f i c i e n c y
scrubbing (Figure 1).
T y p i c a l i n d u s t r i e s to
which the process applies
are sewage treatment, ani-

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .',. . . . . . . . !
Sodium
In-Line: . . ..................
Mixer ::i
.
~..,~ Hypochlorite
Solution

Hydroxide
Solution

Packed.. - - ' ~
Bed
Feed Gas
..............
plus O ~
"~
Purge
Reservoir
To Drain

Bleen
Li

Liquid ~
Recirculation

Figure 1: Simplified flow diagram of the ODORGARD process

Difftelhy]

Scrubbing
lumn

H~5 ~ Hy~r0oenSdphde
MeSH .~ M~lhylMnt~apMe
DM~
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Catalytic
Reactor

Reactor ~ '
By-Pass

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.~e-up
Anti-Scalant
"~- -Solution

mal rendering, leather and

tanning, food and drink, natural p r o d u c t p r o c e s s i n g ,
foundry, paints and resins,
pulp and paper and related
industries (Figure 2), The
typical upper range of applicability for the ODORGARD
technology is 3-5kg/hr of total
odour or VOC.
For odours in particular
the ODORGARD technology
is notable in that it can
remove amines and ammonia plus a wide range of
organic sulphides in a single stage. Traditional chemical scrubbing r e q u i r e s
m u l t i - s t a g e s c r u b b i n g of
such species (Figure 3).
As the system is aqueous based, the destruction
of V O C s d o e s d e p e n d
somewhat on their solubility
and f u n c t i o n a l i t y . Whilst
such c o m p o u n d s as e.g.
phenols, a l d e h y d e s alcohols etc. can be removed,

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TON

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Component A
Compormnl C
Component B

Figure 6:l~ypical Destruction of an Organic Compound in the ACCENT

Process (Organe-Chlorides).
TOC - Total Organic Carbon
TON - Total Organic Nitrogen
Components A-C - Organo-chloride

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CATALYTIC DESTRUCTION
OF ORGANICS IN
EFFLUENT STREAMS

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very insoluble compounds

such as hydrocarbons cannot be destroyed.
Case Study (ODORGARD)
An existing bio-scrubber at
a sewage treatment works
(STW) in the Northumbrian
Water region, UK r e t r o fitted with an ODORGARD
system by Alderley Process
Technologies, a licensee of
the technology (Figure 4).
The c o l u m n d i m e n s i o n s
w e r e s u f f i c i e n t f o r an
ODORGARD system. The
column internals were replaced and a control system
added along with the catalyst vessel and chemical
dosing equipment to give a
unit which was expected to
treat the foul air stream
very effectively. The system
was being used to treat air
from various vessels and
tanks on the STW, including
a sludge press house which
gives relatively high levels
of odour when pressing is in
progress. The previous efficiency of the bio-scrubber

was typically of the order of

60-70% in terms of odour
removal. The efficiency of
the ODORGARD system (as
measured by H:_~Sremoval)
gave an average of 99.8%
with 99.9% a c h i e v e d on
higher H2S Ioadings.

The ACCENT process is the

most recent addition to ICI
Katalco's OXISPEC T M range
of products. Launched this
year it offers for the first
time a proprietary fixed bed
catalytic process to remove
organic contaminants (pesticides, colour, non bio-deg r a d a b l e organic species
etc.) from liquid streams.
The basic chemical reaction is the same as for the
ODORGARD system. An active o x y g e n m o l e c u l e is
held on the catalyst surface
which is then used to oxidize organic contaminants
in an aqueous stream. The
catalyst for the ACCENT
process was developed
from the ODORGARD catalyst, but allows oxidation of
'harder to oxidize' organic
species and higher hypochlorite selectivity (Figure
5). The o x i d a n t may be
supplied as sodium hvDo-

chlorite, hydrogen peroxide, or other oxygen

supplying species although
the prewailing economics at
this time favour sodium hypochlorite.
The overall chemical reaction may be expressed
generically for a chiorocarbon:
CxHvCl= + n O C l " t- m O H
x C03- + y/2 H20 + z C-

Figure 6 shows the typical

destruction of a series of
organo-chlorides at a recent on-,~ite customer trial.
The technology may be
operated either to render
the stream adequately biotreatable (i.e., to convert
'hard' COD to BOD or destroy known respiratory or
nitrification inhibitors) or
c o m p l e t e l y to m i n e r a l i z e
the p o l l u t a n t s to c a r b o n
dioxide, water and sodium
salts if no sewer or biotreatmerit option exists, The operating cost of the latter

Heating

Packed Bed
Catalytic Reactor

'---

Figure 5: Simplified flow diagram of the ACCENT process

Aqueous
P r o d u c t to
Discharge

Figure 7: ACCENTpilot unit used for testing on several customer sites

option, will however, be
higher, although there is
little penalty in installed
capital or catalyst cost.
The variable treatment
cost depends solely upon
the mass flow of material to
be oxidized. As a guideline,
Katalco believes ACCENT
t e c h n o l o g y is a p p l i c a b l e

for the treatment of up to

3000 ppm of the TOC in the
effluent, but depends upon
the d e g r e e of treatment
required. Because of the
infinite combinations of organics in effluent.,; it is impossible to predict the likely
selectivity of the process
and so each stream has to

be considered separately.
Initial t r e a t m e n t
studies of the effluent
stream are often required to check treatability and suitability
of the ACCENT Process. However, the
variable composition
of s u c h s t r e a m s
usually demands onsite effluent tests to
conclusively demonstrate treatability.
The experimental results indicate the deg r e e of t r e a t m e n t
achievable, allow an
estimate to be made
of the catalyst volume
and hence c a p i t a l
cost, plus the likely hypochlorite and caustic usage
rates.
The cheapest systems
comprise a single reactor
system with no duty standby. Other options are available should 100% availability be n e c e s s a r y . The
ACCENT unit can also be

provided with a self-optimizing control system with

automated dosing from instantaneous COD duty.
Applicable industries
segments for the ACCENT
Process are considered to
be anywhere where organic
species in liquid cause a
problem i.e.. Textiles, Pulp
and Paper, Petrochemicals,
S y n t h e t i c Resins, Dyes,
P h a r m a c e u t i c a l s , Soaps
and Detergents, Agrochemicals, Pigments, Food and
Drink, Adhesives, Rubber
Chemicals, Bulk/Intermediate/Effect Chemicals. Benefits
over
existing
technologies include reliability, low operating, capital
and maintenance costs and
ease of operation and it well
deserves its reputation as
'fit and forget' technology
(Figure 7).

VACUUM EVAPORATION
surface treatment,
:hanical engineering,
files, food, chemicals,
netics, printing, landfill
:hate whatever your
innes, water pollution
nnseverising costs.

Long Screen Life.

We also stock one of th~
largest inventories of
corrosion and temperatt
resistant metals in the in

offer evaporationplantswith
acities from 150-25.000
% The CE-markedplants use
t pumps or mechanical
~ur recompression,steam or
water a flexible solutionto a
e range of our customers'
~lems.

Custom Weaving.
Whatever your applicati~
we can weave and fabri,
in any metal, weave,
mesh, size or design.

or call us...
Toll Free:

(800) 321-3234
Cleveland area:

(216) 341-1832
FAX:

(216) 341-1876

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ICI Katalco,
PO Box 1, Billingham,
Cleveland, TS23 1LB UK
Tel: +44 1642 553601;
Fax: +44 1642 522542

Cut the cost of aqueous waste disposal with clean

separation technology from Led Italia

Fast Delivery...
Our large inventory mean
fast delivery and reduce
down time to you.

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MANUFACTURING COMPANY
573 East 78th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 4410L

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L E D Italia S.r.1.
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