Gas-phase catalytic combustion of chlorinated VOC binary mixtures

The complete oxidation of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), dichloromethane (DCM) and trichloroethylene (TCE) as individual chlorohydrocarbons and of their binary mixtures over protonic zeolites (H-ZSM-5, H-MOR and chemically dealuminated H-Y zeolite) has been studied using a conventional fixed bed flow reactor. Its catalytic performance was associated with the presence of strong Bronsted acidity. Both H-MOR and chemically dealuminated H-Y zeolites exhibited the highest destruction activity for the abatement of single and binary mixtures. The destruction of chlorinated mixtures induced an inhibition of the reactivity of each compound leading to a significant increase in the ignition temperature, which varied form one compound to other. On the other hand, a moderate decrease in chlorinated intermediates/by-products formation was noted. Likewise, the presence of hydrogen, either as a part of the additional chlorinated molecule or as a part of water generated as a reaction product, was determined to be important for efficient combustion of the chlororganics to HCl. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.