This is a Renewal Award with reference to work that was conducted under NSF Grant No. 88-13714. In research conducted under that award, the investigators performed supercritical extraction of model synthetic mixtures of organic pollutants in water solutions and concluded that a process based upon this concept is feasible for removal of contaminants from water solution. The objective of work under this Renewal Award is to obtain a better understanding than now exists of the properties of the process such as its thermodynamic characteristics and rate at which it functions as a steps toward evaluating its engineering relevance and significance. Knowledge obtained in this research will then be applied to improvement of models that may be used in engineering design of the process and systems utilizing it. The supercritical extraction process being studied in this research is potentially especially applicable to treatment of wastewaters that are contaminated with substances that are resistant to biological degradation. Results of this research are expected to be applied to the engineering design of processes and systems based on use of supercritical extraction for decontamination of aqueous wastes.
