Improved Adsorptive-Catalytic Process for VOC Removal from Waste Gases

Abstract

The paper deals with the development of new methods for arrangement of adsorptive-catalytic processes for removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from industrial waste gases. Among the suggested new technologies are, e.g., a system with the localized heating of a part of the catalyst bed to initiate burning of sorbed VOC and a system with the adsorption-catalytic bed separated into parallel sections with their nonsimultaneous regeneration. The studies were accomplished by combining pilot-scale experiments and mathematical modeling. The arrangement of the initiating heater inside the adsorbent-catalyst bed is shown to allow the energy consumption for regeneration, including specific energy consumption for cleaning unit volume of waste gases and the required heater capacity, to be reduced considerably (by more than two orders of magnitude). Separation of the bed into sections makes it possible to decrease several times the maximal concentration of impurities and the outlet gas temperature during operation. The suggested highly effective and energy saving technologies can be widely used for the atmosphere protection against VOC pollution.