The release into the atmosphere of hazardous volatiles Part I. Release from porous solids imbued with a liquid mixture in which the volatiles are dissolved

Abstract

An experimental and theoretical study to investigate the release of toxic volatiles from porous media is presented. Three porous media, one synthetic and the other two natural, have been selected. They were imbued in a solution containing toxic volatiles in dilute concentrations. The heavy oily medium used to hold the volatiles in the liquid phase is tetradecane. The toxic volatiles whose diffusion is studied include benzene, chlorobenzene and 1,3-dichlorobenzene. These chemicals were chosen so that a wide range of volatilities could be studied. Two different desorbers have been used. The first is a desorption chamber containing a single sphere of the porous medium. The second, more suitable for studying the diffusion of the less volatile components, has a cylindrical fixed bed geometry in which smaller porous spheres are arranged. The theoretical tools used to model the diffusion process show good accuracy in describing the experimental data.