OXIDATION OF PHENOL IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION WITH COPPER OXIDE CATALYSTS SUPPORTED ON γ-Al₂O₃, PILLARED CLAY AND TiO₂: COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH CATALYST

Abstract

The Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation (CWAO) of phenol using copper oxide catalysts supported by γ-Al₂O₃, TiO₂, and pillared clay was evaluated to identify which of these catalysts was the most appropriate for this reaction. The CuO/PILC, CuO/γ-Al₂O₃ and CuO/TiO₂ catalysts were the most successful at removing phenol and resulted in more than 96% conversion. Among these catalysts, CuO/γ-Al₂O₃ produced the largest amount of CO₂, the lowest amount of intermediate products and the lowest amount of copper leaching. These results showed that the CuO/γ-Al₂O₃catalyst was the best for the end of the reaction. However, the methods used in this study did not allow us to identify the most appropriate reaction time (or catalyst). An alternative approach for this problem was to quantify the costs for each reaction time. Using this approach, the CuO/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst was the most economically favorable catalyst when it was used during the first hour of the reaction.

Keywords
Phenol; Oxidation; CuO; Pillared clay; TiO₂; Costs