Environment

The unique properties of peroxygens make them particularly suited to provide protection for the environment in all areas of everyday life and throughout industry. From pollution prevention to abatement and cure, peroxygens can provide an effective solution to environmental problems.

Advantages of Peroxygens :

• Hydrogen peroxide is itself non-toxic and has breakdown products of only water and oxygen.
• When handled and stored correctly, hydrogen peroxide is an oxidant which is safe and easy to work with.
• Hydrogen peroxide is a liquid which is totally miscible with water therefore allowing ease of dosing and control.
• Hydrogen peroxide can be used to make Caro’s acid, on-site as required, using Solvay Interox technology. Caro’s acid provides a particularly powerful oxidation system.
• A solid form of hydrogen peroxide is also available from Solvay Interox It dissolves in water to yield an alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate. 

Cyanide, Thiocyanate and Nitrite treatment	Peroxygens are widely used throughout industry for the safe and effective treatment of cyanide in process and waste waters. In addition to their use in the gold industry (see mining and metals section) these processes can also be applied in other industries such as metal finishing.
Dechlorination	Hydrogen peroxide is used to destroy excess chlorine or hypochlorite which may remain from a previous process stage. in both cases the end-products are chloride ions and water.
Gas Scrubbing	Oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, mercaptans and various other toxic odorous components of waste gases can be removed by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide after their absorption in an aqueous scrubbing liquor.
Odour Control	General odour control techniques based on hydrogen peroxide can be applied in activities such as sewage treatment, animal carcass rendering, food processing and animal feed manufacture.
Organic destruction / COD/BOD reduction	This section covers the use of peroxygens to destroy Organic compounds, to reduce Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).
Soil Remediation	With rising land values there is an incentive to reuse land which may have been contaminated in the past.
Source of Oxygen	H2O2 as a source of oxygen
Treatment of sulphur species	In addition to treatment of SOx as detailed in the Gas Scrubbing section many other sulphur species can be treated using hydrogen peroxide.
Water Treatment	Hydrogen peroxide provides an effective means of purifying and detoxifying industrial and municipal effluents.

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