OPERATION OF A CATALYTIC REVERSE FLOW REACTOR FOR THE PURIFICATION OFAIR CONTAMINATED WITH VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS

Catalytic oxidation in a reverse flow reactor is an attractive process for the decontamination of air polluted with volatile organic compoun ds (VOCs). In this paper several aspects of operating this type of rea ctor for air purification under strongly varying conditions will be di scussed. For a successful operation of such reactor a minimum amount o f combustibles is required, and a simple theory is developed to predic t this minimum value. This minimum amount is strongly influenced by th e reaction kinetics, the heat transport in the packed bed and the adia baticity of the reactor. To core with a too low temperature level in t he reactor for a complete conversion, an electrical heating device sho uld be installed in the centre of the reactor bed to increase locally the temperature rapidly and efficiently. To control the maximum temper ature in case of too high concentrations, extra air should be added to the feed.