Thermal destruction parameter determination

There are four vapor phase treatment processes (a) thermal destruction, (b) catalytic incinerahon, (c) ozone destruction with ultraviolet radiation, and (d) granular carbon adsorption (GAC). Processes a-c are not widely utilized due to cost and/or effectiveness of treatment. Thermal destruction is an effective process, but the operating cost is very high due to energy requirements. Catalytic incineration, shown in Fig. 7, has lower energy requirements compared to the thermal destruction process, but it is not effective in eliminating low levels of chlorinated organic compounds. Ozone destruction with an ultraviolet radiation process has limited performance data available as a result, the performance of this process must be examined in a pilot study for the particular VOC in question in order to determine operational parameters. The most commonly used vapor phase treatment process for VOC is carbon adsorption. 

These experiments also show the value of NEXAFS as a technique for following the kinetics of surface processes. We have shown that experiments can be tailored so a specific reaction can be studied, even if gas evolution is not involved. This represents an advantage over thermal desorption experiments, where several steps may be required in order to desorb the products to be detected. Another advantage of NEXAFS is that rates are measured isothermally, so the kinetic parameters can be determined with accuracy. Finally, NEXAFS is not a destructive technique, so we need not to worry about modifying the surface compounds while probing the system, as would be the case with other techniques such as Auger electron spectroscopy. 

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