Results of catalytic hydrodechlorination of PCBs in a
commercial dielectric oil are reported. Experimental runs
were carried out in a batch reactor (300 cm3) at PH2 = 50 bar
and T = 280−300−320−350 °C. Dielectric oil (2 wt %) in
admixture with hexadecane (98wt %) was treated using a
sulfided Ni−Mo catalyst. Dielectric oil composition is 58−60 wt % PCBs and 40−42 wt % chlorobenzenes. PCBs
in the oil are mainly from penta- to nonachlorobiphenyls.
Total chlorine content is 58 wt %. Liquid-phase samples were
withdrawn during the reaction run and analyzed by GC-ECD and GC-FID. Destruction and removal efficiency has
been evaluated in function of the operating conditions. The
results show that PCBs are transformed into biphenyl
and hydrochloric acid, and quite complete hydrodechlorination
was accomplished in about 200 min at T = 350 °C. At
lower temperatures longer reaction times are needed. The
reaction organic chlorine → inorganic chlorine has been
modeled, and Arrhenius parameters have been evaluated. In
the absence of specific data, these values can be used
to size HDCl reactors for the treatment of PCB oils.
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