Enhancement Of Organic Vapor Incineration By Using Ozone

Incineration of dilute mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCS) in air was studied in an externally heated quartz tube reactor. A dilute stream of ozone (O3) in air was injected into the flowing VOC-in-air stream at various molar ratios of (O3) to VOCS. A number of trials were made to determine the degree of enhancement of the destruction of several VOCs-heptane, isopropanol chlorobenzene, and trichloroethylene. Temperatures studied for heptane destruction ranged from 637°C to 687°C and residence times varied from 0.26 to 0.84 seconds. It was shown that O3 definitely increased the rate of destruction of n-heptane, but apparently had no effect on the other organics tested. At the residence times and temperatures studied, both organic intermediates and CO persisted. The results for n-heptane using O3 were compared with results previously reported for n-heptane using hydrogen peroxide. © 1992