DESTRUCTION OF LOW-LEVELS OF VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN DRY AIR STREAMS BY AN ELECTRON-BEAM GENERATED PLASMA

The destruction of parts per million (ppm) levels of volatile organic compounds in a dry air stream by high-energy electron-beam irradiation has been investigated in a pilot plant at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, Tennessee. In a series of experiments, dr y air contaminated with various VOCs in the concentration range of 50- 1000 ppm were treated in the UTSI pilot plant to determine the extent- of destruction at various electron-beam dose levels. The destruction r emoval efficiency was determined as a function of the electron beam ir radiation dose. The results suggest a charge transfer reaction as the major decomposition mechanism. A theoretical foundation of the process , along with a simple first-generation reaction kinetics model, a summ ary of the results from the pilot plant flow reactor, and a preliminar y cost analysis for a full-scale detoxification plant using currently available electron-beam gun technology are presented in this paper.