Are the Tube Microreactors Future of Wastewater Treatment?

Abstract

In the industry, wastewater is important environmental problem. Due to the growing environmental concern this problem became one of key issues. Large amounts of highly contaminated wastewater, as consequence of industrial use, are important environmental polluters. Before discharging, wastewater has to be treated to achieve quality prescribed by law. One of solutions could be decomposition of pollutants. The decomposition of pollutants from industrial wastewaters is of critical importance in order to maintain a clean environment. Many process commonly used in polluter degradation processes commonly use different harmful chemicals or leads to formation of potentially harmful byproducts. Treatment of wastewater from industry in microreactor system is new ecological solution. Over the last few decades microreactors have been increasingly recognized as being an alternative to conventional batch reactors in chemical industry. Application of these systems have aim to transform conventional into more productive and environmental friendlier process. They are characterized by micrometer dimensions and continuous mode, resulting in significant intensification of the mass and heat transfer. Microreactor systems are already find application in chemical industry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical industry and medicine. Decomposition of pollutants in wastewater is complex, but microreactors allow purification with low quantities of chemical reagents. This paper represents review of possible fields of wastewater purification – waste material decomposition in microreactor systems.