Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Organic Compounds by Strong Alkalis

Abstract

Chlorinated organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE) are the most prevalent contaminants found in soil and ground water, and pose serious health risks even at trace concentrations. This research reports a new chemical treatment technique for rapid degradation of TCE in strong alkaline solutions. Batch kinetic reactions between TCE and NaOH indicate that TCE can be rapidly and completely dechlorinated in NaOH at elevated temperatures. The reaction can be described by a pseudo-first-order rate kinetics with an estimated activation energy of ∼85 kJ/mol. The half-lives for TCE degradation in 2M NaOH at 40, 60, 80, and 100°C were approximately 347, 48.8, 4.0, and 2.4 min, respectively. The reaction end-products are primarily Cl