AIR PROCESS FOR CONTROL OF DILUTE AIR EMISSIONS OF CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS

In the control of air pollution on military bases, increasing emphasis is needed for technologies applicable to dilute concentrations of pollutants in air. For example, the control of indoor air pollution associated with solvent degreasing operations is necessary, including the dilute emissions associated with exhaust ventilation fans. Air stripping of contaminated groundwater often produces dilute emissions for which current destruction technology provides no economic solutions. Activated carbon adsorption could be used, but is often uneconomical for these cases and can create a hazardous solid waste which is increasingly difficult to manage. In the proposed research, the technical feasibility is to be established of integrating a highly effective adsorbent with catalyzed ultraviolet (UV) oxidation to obtain a novel dilute phase air pollution control process. This adsorption Integrated Reaction (AIR) Process concentrates organics on an adsorbent transparent to UV light. The contanminant is then catalytically destroyed at high selectivity. The feasibility study is to be conducted with chlorinated compounds, but the AIR process should also be applicable to volatile organic compounds emissions control.