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LABORATORY EVALUATION OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE DESTRUCTION OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
Citation:
Duvall, D. AND W. Rubey. LABORATORY EVALUATION OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE DESTRUCTION OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-77/228.
Description:
A specialized laboratory technique incorporating a two-stage quartz system was used for determining the thermal destruction properties of PCB's and related compounds. With this system, a small sample was first converted to the gas phase, then exposed to high-temperature destruction conditions. Critical parameters of temperature and residence time were accurately measured. When PCB's were exposed for one second to a series of high-temperature air environments, it was found that initial decomposition occurred at approximately 640C; greater than 95% molecular destruction was obtained at 740C; and 99.995% molecular destruction was found at 1000C. Also, it was determined that PCB's (and certain related compounds) thermally decompose to low molecular weight products, as yet unidentified.