Process and plant for decontaminating solid materials contaminated with organic pollutants

US5833756A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Franz-Hubert Haegel · Düren, DE
• Wolfgang Clemens · Puschendorf, DE
• Milan J. Schwuger · Haan, DE
• Carl-Johannes Soeder · Dortmund, DE
• Katrin Stickdorn · Brussels, BE
• Leslie Webb · Düren, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 29, 1996
• Grant date: Nov 10, 1998
• Expiry date: Aug 29, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B09C1/025
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A process for decontaminating a solid material contaminated with an organic pollutant wherein the solid material contains grains with a particle size of up to 60 microns, which includes the steps of: PA1 (a) extracting the organic pollutant from the solid material containing grains with the particle size up to 60 microns by using a microemulsion which includes a thermodynamically stable, macroscopically homogeneous and optically transparent mixture of water, an apolar hydrophobic solvent, and a surfactant to form a cleaned solid material and a pollutant-containing microemulsion; PA1 (b) separating the cleaned solid material from the pollutant-containing microemulsion; and PA1 (c) splitting the pollutant-containing microemulsion into a surfactant-rich phase and a pollutant-containing phase.