Distribution study of priority pollutant PAHs from a laboratory aluminum-can chip smelting furnace

Abstract

In this article, the effect of smelting temperature on the distribution of poly aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species in the flue gas streams from a bench-scale laboratory aluminum-can-chip smelting furnace under pyrolytic conditions is examined. The preset smelting temperatures are 600, 700, and 800°C. Both solid-phase and gas-phase PAHs were sampled, extracted, concentrated, and analyzed using GC/FID and GC/MS. Results indicate that increasing furnace temperature increases the species number, average molecular weight, and total concentration of PAHs. Each of the observed PAHs was much more associated with soot particles (i.e., referring as the solid-phase PAHs), compared with what stayed in gaseous form (i.e., the gas-phase PAHs). Further, with the exception of fluoranthene, each PAH's partial pressure in the sampled flue gas stream was much less than its own vapor pressure (i.e., at 25°C). It is proposed that most PAHs are instantaneously wrapped in by the growing soot particles once formed under pyrolytic conditions at high smelting temperatures, thus resulting in the significant difference between each PAH's partial pressure in flue gases and its vapor pressure.