Role of Water in Supercritical Water Oxidation

Professor Phillip E. Savage will study the partial and total oxidation of organic compounds in supercritical water. These reactions are applicable in waste treatment as alternatives in incineration. The effect of water concentration, pressure, and temperature on reaction rates will be uncoupled, using inert gases as diluents. The role of dielectric constant and cage effect of the water as a function of density, will be separated from its role as reactant, and studies with mechanistic kinetic models. Quantum chemical and molecular dynamics calculations will be performed to study the influence of water molecules on the rate of H202 dissociation.