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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY REPORT: DEVELOPMENT OF A PHOTOTHERMAL DETOXIFICATION UNIT
Citation:
Graham, J., B. Dellinger, AND J. Swartzbaugh. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY REPORT: DEVELOPMENT OF A PHOTOTHERMAL DETOXIFICATION UNIT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/540/R-95/526.
Description:
There has long been interest in utilizing photochemical methods for destroying hazardous organic materials. nfortunately, the direct application of classic, low temperature photochemical processes to hazardous waste detoxification are often too slow to be practical for wide spread use. urthermore, low-temperature photochemical processes often fail to completely convert targeted wastes to mineral products of complete conversion which are either harmless to the environment or easily scrubbed from the system effluent. esearchers at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) have developed a unique photothermal process that overcomes many of the problems previously encountered with direct photochemical detoxification techniques. pecifically, it has been found that there are numerous advantages to conducting photochemical detoxification at relatively high temperatures. nder the conditions of simultaneous exposure to heat and ultraviolet (UV) radiation the rate of destructive photothermal reactions can be greatly increased and that these reactions result in the complete mineralization of the waste feed. urthermore, it has been demonstrated that at the elevated temperatures used in this process the efficiency of UV radiation absorption also increases resulting in an overall improvement in process efficiency. hese features (i.e., fast, efficient, and complete destruction of organic wastes) makes this process a promising technique for destroying hazardous organic wastes in the gas-phase. he authors present the theoretical foundation for the photothermal detoxification process along with a summary of the results from a bench-scale flow reactor system. he basic design, capital cost, and operating cost for a full-scale flow reactor system using currently available industrial illumination equipment is also presented.