Science Inventory

COST ANALYSIS OF ACTIVATED CARBON VERSUS PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION FOR REMOVING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM INDOOR AIR

Citation:

Henschel*, D B. COST ANALYSIS OF ACTIVATED CARBON VERSUS PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION FOR REMOVING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM INDOOR AIR. JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 48:985-994, (1998).

Impact/Purpose:

Journal Article

Description:

A cost comparison has been conducted of 1 m3/s indoor air cleaners using granular activated carbon (GAC) vs. photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) for treating a steady-state inlet volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration of 0.3 mg/m3. The commercial GAC unit was costed assuming that the inlet VOCs had a reasonable carbon sorption affinity, representative of compounds having four or more atoms (exclusive of hydrogen). A representative model PCO unit for indoor air application was designed and costed using VOC oxidation rate data reported in the literature for the low inlet concentration assumed here and using a typical illumination intensity. The analysis shows that, for the assumptions used here, the PCO unit would have an installed cost more than 12 times greater, and an annual cost more than 6 times greater, than the GAC unit. It also suggests that a dramatic reduction in the PCO costs cannot likely be achieved solely by improvements in reactor configuration; rather, an improved catalyst would be needed, significantly increasing rates and reducing illumination requirements relative to the catalysts reported in the literature. GAC costs would increase significantly if the VOCs to be removed were lighter and more poorly sorbed than assumed in this analysis.

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( JOURNAL/ PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL)
Product Published Date:10/01/1998
Record Last Revised:04/17/2009
OMB Category:Other
Record ID: 90503