Degradation of H-acid in aqueous solution by microwave assisted wet air oxidation using Ni-loaded GAC as catalyst

A novel process, microwave assisted catalytic wet air oxidation (MW-CWO), was applied for the degradation of H-acid (1-amino-8-naphthol-3, 6-disulfonic acid) in aqueous solution. Ni-loaded granular activated carbon (GAC), prepared by immersion-calcination method, was used as catalyst. The results showed that the MW-CWO process was very effective for the degradation of H-acid in aqueous solution under atmospheric pressure with 87.4% TOC (total organic carbon) reduction in 20 min. Ni on GAC existed in the form of NiO as specified by XRD. Loss of Ni was significant in the initial stage, and then remained almost constant after 20 min reaction. BET surface area results showed that the surface property of GAC after MW-CWO process was superior to that of blank GAC.