TOTAL OXIDATION OF CONTAMINATED LEVEL VOLATILE ORGANIC HYDROCARBONS OVER AEROGEL CATALYSTS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT IS TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF A CATALYTIC OXIDATION OF CONTAMINANT LEVEL VOLATILE ORGANIC HYDROCARBONS USING NOVEL AEROGEL CATALYSTS.THE ADVANTAGES OF USING THE PROPOSED CATALYTIC COMBUSTION PROCESS IS THAT IT CAN OPERATE AT A LOWER TEMPERATURE THAN THE CONVENTIONAL INCINERATORS THUS CONTROLLING NOX EMISSIONS. IT WILL ALSO BE MORE EFFICIENT IN OBTAINING VIRTUALLY 100% CONVERSION THAN ANY CONVENTIONAL METHODS AND IT WILL BE SMALLER IN SIZE THAN ANY CONVENTIONAL INCINERATOR. ADVANCED PREPARATION TECHNIQUES OF AEROGEL CATALYSTS WILL BEUSED TO PREPARE DIFFERENT MULTICOMPONENT CATALYTIC SYSTEMS FOR HIGHER ACTIVITY AND STABILITY. THE MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF THIS PREPARATION PROCEDURE IS THAT METALLIC COMPONENTS CAN BE COMBINED IN ANY PROPORTION AND THAT IT PRODUCES HIGH SURFACE AREA AND HIGHLY POROUS MATERIALS. THE INFORMATION GATHERED WILL BE USED TO DESIGN A CATALYTIC SYSTEM THAT WOULD OPTIMIZE THE TOTAL OXIDATION OF HYDROCARBONS IN TERMS OF FINAL PRODUCTS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION.