Enhancement Of Organic Vapor Incineration Using Hydrogen Peroxide

Incineration of dilute mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air was studied in an externally heated quartz tube reactor. Dilute solutions of hydrogen peroxide in water were injected into the flowing air stream at various molar ratios of H2O2 to VOCs. A number of trials were made to determine global destruction kinetics for two VOCs - heptane and isopropanol. Temperatures studied ranged from 637°C to 700°C and residence times varied from 0.26 to 0.94 seconds. It was shown that H2O2 definitely increased the rate of destruction of the primary organics. However, at the residence times and temperatures studied, both organic intermediates and CO persisted. A surprising experimental result was that position of the H2O2 injector relative to the reaction zone made a dramatic difference in the results. © 1991