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PHOTOTHERMAL DESTRUCTION OF THE VAPOR OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Citation:
Chen, C., J. Graham, AND B. Dellinger. PHOTOTHERMAL DESTRUCTION OF THE VAPOR OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/A-94/100.
Description:
The contamination of subsurface soil and groundwater by volatile organic compounds (VOCS) is a pervasive problem in the United States. n-situ soil vapor extraction (SVE) and ex-situ thermal desorption are the most adapted technologies for the remediation of contaminated soil while air stripping is the generally used technology for the treatment of the pumped groundwater. he removed VOCs from these processes are usually adsorbed on activated carbon. he destruction or disposal of these waste mixtures is a tedious and expensive task. ombination of photothermal reactions with oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide and/or ozone have been used for the treatment of VOC contaminated water with some success. owever, the powerful photochemical reactions in the vapor phase have not been used for the treatment of the VOC air emission. ecently photolysis of some VOCs from SVE at ambient temperature was studied. he results showed that the reactions were slow and failed to mineralize the VOCs. e have recently developed a photothermal process that overcomes the problems encountered previously. t has been demonstrated that the light absorbed by many VOCs increases the intensity and broadens the absorption region with a rise in temperature. t has also been shown elevated temperatures significantly increase the rate of photothermal reactions making this process a viable option for the destruction of the vapor of VOCs.