ELECTRON-BEAM GENERATED PLASMA DECOMPOSITION OF 1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE

Dilute concentrations of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) in air were decom posed in an electron beam generated plasma reactor. The energy require d for high levels of TCA decomposition (greater than 90%) was determin ed as a function of inlet concentration. For 99% decomposition of TCA, epsilon approximate to 300 eV/molecule at 250 ppm inlet concentration , and epsilon approximate to 100 eV/molecule at 3000 ppm. A radical re action mechanism is proposed which accounts for the formation of the m ajor reaction products: 1,1-dichloroethylene, HCl, chloroacetylchlorid e, CO2, and COCl2. A model is derived based on first-order inhibited k inetics; a fit of the data to the model shows that at high decompositi on fractions, radical scavenging by reaction products is a significant inhibitor of TCA decomposition.