Review of research results for the photocatalytic oxidation of hazardous wastes in air

摘要

Laboratory experiments of gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) at NREL have focused on measurements that can help commercialize this technology for treating gaseous air streams. This effort proceeds earlier NREL work and studies conducted elsewhere which demonstrated the general applicability of PCO. The more recent work has concentrated on: (1) the kinetics of the PCO process; (2) the formation and destruction of intermediates; and (3) possible enhancements to improve the destruction rates. The results from these studies will be used to help design large scale PCO equipment and they will be used to evaluate the economics of the PCO process. For trichloroethylene and ethanol, extensive studies of the rates of destruction have yielded kinetic parameters for the destruction of intermediates as well as the substrate. The kinetics of intermediates is essential for sizing a large scale reactor, as complete conversion to carbon dioxide is often desired. The kinetic data from these laboratory studies has been used for analyzing IT's pilot PCO reactor and has been used to suggest modifications to this unit. For compounds that are more difficult to destroy (such as the components of BTEX), rate enhancement experiments have been conducted. These compounds represent a very large market for this technology and improvement of the rate of the process should make it competitive. Towards this goal, the enhancement of the destruction of BTEX components have been studied. Experiments have demonstrated that there is a significant increase in the rates of destruction of BTEX with the addition of ozone. Preliminary economic assessments have shown that PCO with ozone may be cost competitive. Future laboratory experiments of PCO will focus on refinements of what has been learned. Rate measurements will also be expanded to include other compounds representing significant markets for the PCO technology.