UV Oxidation with Catalyst-Air 2000, Trojan
Technologies Inc.
Description of Technology
The
Adsorption-Integrated-Reaction (AIR 2000) process combines a photolytic reactor
and a proprietary catalytic adsorbent for a combination of adsorption and
chemical destruction. A contaminated
air stream with dilute VOC concentrations flows through a photolytic reactor
where the VOCs are adsorbed onto a proprietary catalytic adsorbent. The adsorbent is continuously illuminated
with UV light, destroying the trapped, concentrated VOCs by photocatalytic
oxidation. Only oxygen and the VOCs are
needed as reactants as the system simultaneously destroys VOCs and regenerates
the catalyst. Sufficient oxygen
concentrations are typically found in the contaminated air stream for the VOC
destruction. Effluent air from the AIR
2000 system contains hydrogen chloride, chlorine gas, CO2 and
water. Hydrogen chloride and chlorine
gases can be removed from the air stream by conventional scrubbers and
adsorbents later in the process. In
contrast with other catalytic systems, the primary photocatalyst in the AIR
2000 process is not titanium dioxide, instead it contains a number of different
metal-oxide semiconductors. It has been
found that titanium dioxide photocatalysts can experience degradation of
performance in as little as 24 hours.
Since the photocatalyst is particulate based KSE, Inc. suggests that
there is more freedom in reactor design such as packed beds, annular reactors,
and monolithic reactors. The technology
developer also suggest that there is an increase in economical scale up as
compared to reactors that use a catalyst film coated on a support film. KSE Inc. reports that this photocatalyst is
highly resistant to deactivation, even after thousands of hours of field operation. The physical system can be constructed of
fiberglass reinforced plastic due to the low maximum operating temperatures of
125 oC. Figure 1. below
shows a picture of the AIR 2000 system.
Figure 1. AIR 2000 System
To read a WORD file
summary of the technology press on this link
or to download a PDF file of a USEPA Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation
(SITE) program summary, press here.