CATALYTICALLY STABILIZED THERMAL INCINERATION

A PLUG FLOW CATALYTICALLY STABILIZED THERMAL (CST) COMBUSTOROFFERS AN ATTRACTIVE POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE TO CURRENT HIGH RESIDENCE TIME INCINERATORS FOR THE EFFECTIVE AND ECONOMICALDESTRUCTION OF REFRACTORY ORGANICS. THE CST COMBUSTOR USES CATALYTIC SURFACE REACTIONS TO STABILIZE GAS PHASE COMBUSTION, COMBINING HIGH GAS PHASE REACTION RATES WITH THEIMPROVED STABILITY PROVIDED BY CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE SURFACES. RECENT PRELIMINARY FEASIBILITY TESTING AT YALE UNIVERSITY HAS SHOWN THAT THE CST COMBUSTOR CAN ACHIEVE VERYHIGH DESTRUCTION LEVELS OF BOTH METHYL CHLORIDE AND METHYLENE CHLORIDE FUELS IN A 5 TO 25 MS AVERAGE RESIDENCE TIME. THE IMPLICATIONS OF CST INCINERATION OF HAZARDOUS ORGANICS INCLUDE IMPROVED DESTRUCTION EFFECTIVENESS (INCLUDING REDUCED PIC EMISSIONS), LOWER CAPITAL COSTS, LOWER OPERATING COSTS, INCREASED SAFETY OF OPERATION, PLUS ALOWER MINIMUM ECONOMIC SIZE. THIS PHASE I PROJECT WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS EVALUATING REACTION MECHANISMS WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DEVELOPING AND EXPERIMENTALLY VALIDATING A FUNDAMENTAL MODEL TO PREDICT EMISSIONS UNDER POTENTIAL STEADY STATE AND PERTURBED CONDITIONS, A NECESSARY PREREQUISITE FOR COMMERCIAL COMBUSTOR DEVELOPMENT.