Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

Title

Thermocatalytic Destruction of Gas-Phase Perchloroethylene Using Propane as a Hydrogen Source

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-15-2009

Publication Title

Journal of Hazardous Materials

Keywords

PCE destruction, Catalytic dechlorination, Redox conditions, Reduction, Oxidation

ISSN

0304-3894

Volume

167

Issue/No.

1-3

First Page

770

Last Page

776

Abstract

The use of propane in combination with oxygen to promote the destruction of perchloroethylene (PCE) over a platinum (Pt)/rhodium (Rh) catalyst on a cerium/zirconium oxide washcoat supported on an alumina monolith was explored. Conversions of PCE were measured in a continuous flow reactor with residence times less than 0.5 s and temperatures ranging from 200 to 600 °C. The presence of propane was shown to increase significantly the conversion of PCE over oxygen-only conditions. Conversions close to 100% were observed at temperatures lower than 450 °C with 20% oxygen and 2% propane in the feed, which makes this process attractive from a practical standpoint. In the absence of oxygen, PCE conversion is even higher, but the catalyst suffers significant deactivation in less than an hour. Even though results show that oxygen competes with reactants for active sites on the catalyst, the long-term stability that oxygen confers to the catalyst makes the process an efficient alternative to PCE oxidation. A Langmuir–Hinshelwood competitive adsorption model is proposed to quantify PCE conversion.

Comments

©2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.01.059

This document is currently not available here.

Peer Reviewed

Find in your library

COinS