Trichloroethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane decomposition in an electron beam generated plasma reactor
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States)
This paper investigates the effect of a carbon-carbon double bond on the energy requirements of plasma induced decomposition of chlorinated ethylenes and ethanes in an electron beam generated plasma reactor. The decomposition of low concentrations of trichloroethylene (C{sub 2}HCl{sub 3}, TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (C{sub 2}H{sub 3}Cl{sub 3}, TCA) was studied in atmospheric pressure air streams. The primary decomposition products observed experimentally were carbon dioxide, phosgene, dichloroacetyl chloride, and hydrogen chloride, along with low concentrations of trichloroacetyl chloride, chloroform, and carbon monoxide. At high electron beam doses to the plasma, all of the intermedicate products of both TCA and TCE are converted to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, and molecular chlorine. Greater than 99% removal of TCE in stream at flow rates up to 7 l/m were achieved. TCE required only 2 to 6% of the energy of that required to decompose the same amount of TCA. This was explained by the chlorine radical chain reaction mechanism available to chlorinated ethylenes. The chain length of the TCE reaction mechanism was determined to increase with increasing TCE concentration. A simple kinetic model was used to study the effects of inhibition of the decomposition through chlorine radical scavenging by reaction products; this inhibition was determined to be approximately ten times less important for TCe than for TCA.
- OSTI ID:
- 210321
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9509139-; TRN: 95:008324-0162
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 7. ACS special symposium: emerging technologies in hazardous waste management, Atlanta, GA (United States), 17-20 Sep 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Emerging technologies in hazardous waste management VII; Tedder, D.W. [ed.]; PB: 1352 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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