Abstract
To minimise the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, there has been a substantial increase in the production and usage of synthetic personal protective equipment (PPE) globally. Consequently, single-use PPE have been widely adopted without appropriate regulations for their disposal, leading to extensive environmental contamination worldwide. This study investigates the non-catalytic hydrothermal deconstruction of different PPE items, including isolation gowns, gloves, goggles, face shields, surgical masks, and filtering-facepiece respirators. The selected PPE items were subjected to hydrothermal deconstruction for 90 min in the presence of 30-bar initial oxygen pressure, at temperatures ranging between 250 °C and 350 °C. The solid content in form of total suspended solids (TSS) was reduced up to 97.6%. The total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) decreased with increasing deconstruction temperature, and at 350 °C the lowest tCOD and sCOD content of 546.6 mg/L and 470 mg/L, respectively, was achieved. Short-chained volatile fatty acids were produced after 90 min of deconstruction, predominantly acetic acid at concentrations up to 8974 mg/L. Ammonia nitrogen content (NH 3 -N) of up to 542.6 mg/L was also detected. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and unreacted oxygen (O 2 ) were the main gaseous by-products at up to 15.6% (w/w) and 88.7% (w/w), respectively. The findings suggest that non-catalytic hydrothermal deconstruction is a viable option to process and manage PPE waste.
Keywords: COVID-19; Hydrothermal deconstruction; Personal protective equipment; Waste management; Wet oxidation.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Personal protective equipment, waste management, Wet oxidation., Hydrothermal deconstruction, 【초록키워드】 Masks, oxygen, Transmission, surgical, Contamination, Isolation, PPE, temperature, Fatty acid, Protective, Concentration, carbon dioxide, Regulation, ammonia, waste, initial, lowest, selected, produced, adopted, increase in, was reduced, TSS, acetic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Wet, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 pandemic,