Multifunctional adsorber/reactor concept for waste-air purification

A novel hybrid adsorption/incineration process for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from industrial waste gases is presented. This proc ess is particularly suited for the removal of polymerizing compounds which cannot be desorbed by conventional desorption techniques. The VOCs are sepa rated by adsorption on a thermally stable adsorbent. The adsorbent is perio dically regenerated by an in situ incineration of its VOC loading. Compared with conventional incineration processes, the considered process is very e nergy efficient especially at very low VOC concentrations since energy inpu t is only required for the ignition of the incineration. A mathematical mod el is developed which is able to describe the main process phenomena observ ed. A good agreement of simulation results and experiments is obtained. As an example for a technical application the purification of waste gas contai ning traces of styrene is considered. A commercial dealuminated Y-zeolite ( Degussa-Huels DAY-F20) is used as an adsorbent. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.