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The photo-Fenton reaction was applied as a novel method for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the gas phase, and its effectiveness was experimentally examined. In conventional VOCs removal methods using a photocatalyst or ozone, VOCs are oxidized in the gas phase. Therefore, incompletely oxidized intermediates, which may have adverse effects on health, are likely to contaminate the treated air. On the other hand, in the VOCs removal method developed in this study, because the VOCs are oxidized in the liquid phase by the photo-Fenton reaction, any incompletely oxidized intermediates produced are confined to the liquid phase. As a result, the contamination of the treated air by these harmful intermediates can be prevented. Using a semi-batch process, it was found that the removal efficiency for toluene in a one-pass test (residence time of 17s) was 61%, for an inlet toluene gas concentration of 930 ppbv, an initial iron ion concentration of 20 mg L(-1), and an initial hydrogen peroxide concentration of 630 mg L(-1). The removal efficiency was almost constant as long as H(2)O(2) was present in the solution. Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry analysis confirmed the absence of any incompletely oxidized intermediates in the treated air.

Activated carbons (ACs) can be used not only for liquid but also for vapour phase applications, such as water treatment, deodorisation, gas purification and air treatment. In the present study, activated car bons produced from agricultural residues (olive kernel, corn cobs, rapeseed stalks and soya stalks) via physical steam activation were tested for the removal of Bromopropylate (BP) from water. For the char acterization of the activated carbons ICP, SEM, FTIR and XRD analyses were performed. Adsorption kinet ics and equilibrium isotherms were investigated for all biomass activated carbons in aqueous solutions. Experimental data of BP adsorption have fitted best to the pseudo 2nd-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. The study resulted that corn cobs showed better adsorption capacity than the other biomass ACs. Comparison among ACs from biomass and commercial ones (F400 and Norit GL50) revealed that the first can be equally effective for the removal of BP from water with the latter. Chemosphere

The influence of balance gas mixture on decomposition of dimethyl sulfide was investigated experimentally by a wire-cylinder pulse corona reactor at room temperature. A new type of high voltage pulse generator with a thyratron switch and a Blumlein pulse-forming network was used in the experiments. The experiments were conducted at a fixed pulse frequency of 100 pps. The DMS decomposition efficiency as well as energy yield was investigated using varying oxygen concentration (0.6–21.0%), humidity (0–1.0%) and different balance gas (air, N 2 , Ar). Breakdown voltage of DMS in Ar is lower than that of DMS in N 2 , both of which are proportional to the gas pressures. The conversion of DMS in Ar is more efficient than that in N 2 and air at a fixed peak voltage. In addition, it is found that 5% oxygen is the optimum concentration in decomposition of DMS, due to higher conversion of DMS and relatively fewer yields of by products, such as O 3 , NO x and SO 2 . The highest DMS removal efficiency where the energy yield was 1.24 mg kJ −1 was achieved with the gas stream containing 0.3% H 2 O in air.

Airstreams polluted with H 2 S at inlet loads ranging from 2.4 to 40.9 g H 2 S m −3 h −1 were treated in a biotrickling reactor packed with hematite bearing, open pore foam units, at Empty Bed Residence Times (EBRT) ranging from 20 to 60 s over a period of 80 d, with almost complete removal of the pollutant from the startup of the system. The media had been seeded with sludge from a local water works facility, and removal efficiencies in excess of 80% were consistently observed along the operation of the reactor, with an average of 98%. Based on section performance, being a section one third of the bed length, observed elimination capacities (EC) reached up to 88.7 g H 2 S m −3 h − 1 and 72.0 g H 2 S m −3 h −1 at section EBRT of 10 and 7 s, respectively. The observed EC values compared much better than data reported on other packed bed reactors using biological iron oxidization to treat H 2 S airstreams indirectly, and so did it when comparing the EC per unit of specific area in a similar study using polyurethane (PU) foams. Further, and unlike PU packed biofilters, no compaction occurred due to the iron foam rigidity, which translated in much better observed gas phase pressure drop as opposed to other conventional biofilters. Denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis was performed on the biomass collected in the packing after the biofilter service, and it was found that though a multi bacterial colony was seeded in the system via the sludge, the only surviving genus was the iron oxidizing Alicyclobacillus spp.

The photocatalytic inactivation (PCI) of Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) was performed using polyoxometalate (POM) as a homogeneous photocatalyst and compared with that of heterogeneous TiO2 photocatalyst. Aqueous suspensions of the microorganisms (10(7)-10(8)cfu ml(-1)) and POM (or TiO2) were irradiated with black light lamps. The POM-PCI was faster than (or comparable to) TiO2-PCI under the experimental conditions employed in this study. The relative efficiency of POM-PCI was species-dependent. Among three POMs (H(3)PW(12)O(40), H(3)PMo(12)O(40), and H(4)SiW(12)O(40)) tested in this study, the inactivation of E. coli was fastest with H(4)SiW(12)O(40) while that of B. subtilis was the most efficient with H(3)PW(12)O(40). Although the biocidal action of TiO2 photocatalyst has been commonly ascribed to the role of photogenerated reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals and superoxides, the cell death mechanism with POM seems to be different from TiO2-PCI. While TiO2 caused the cell membrane disruption, POM did not induce the cell lysis. When methanol was added to the POM solution, not only the PCI of E. coli was enhanced (contrary to the case of TiO2-PCI) but also the dark inactivation was observed. This was ascribed to the in situ production of formaldehyde from the oxidation of methanol. The interesting biocidal property of POM photocatalyst might be utilized as a potential disinfectant technology.

Indoor air concentrations of volatile organic compounds often exceed outdoor levels by a factor of 5. There is much interest in developing new technologies in order to improve indoor air quality. In this work non-thermal plasma (DC positive corona discharge) is explored as an innovative technology for indoor air purification. An inlet gas stream of 10 l min −1 containing 0.50 ± 0.02 ppm toluene was treated by the plasma reactor in atmospheric conditions. Toluene removal proved to be achievable with a characteristic energy density e 0 of 50 J l −1 . Removal efficiencies were higher for 26% relative humidity ( e 0 = 35 J l −1 ), compared with those at increased humidities (50% relative humidity, e 0 = 49 J l −1 ). Reaction products such as formic acid, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol, 4-methyl-2-nitrophenol, 4-methyl-2-propyl furan, 5-methyl-2-nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol are identified by means of mass spectrometry. Based on these by-products a toluene degradation mechanism is proposed.

Hydrogen titanate (H-titanate) nanowires were prepared via a hydrothermal reaction of TiO2 powders (P25) in KOH solutions and then calcined at various temperatures. The phase structure, crystallite size, morphology, specific surface area, and pore structures of the calcined H-titanate nanowires at various temperatures were characterized with field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of acetone in air. With increasing calcination temperature, the specific surface area and porosity of the calcined samples steadily decreased. At a calcination temperature range of 400-600 degrees C, the calcined H-titanate nanowires showed higher photocatalytic activity than P25 powders for photocatalytic oxidation of acetone. Especially, at 500 degrees C, the calcined H-titanate nanowires showed the highest photocatalytic activity, which exceeded that of P25 by a factor of about 1.8 times. This can be attributed to the synergetic effect of larger specific surface area, higher pore volume and the presence of brookite TiO2. With further increase in the calcination temperature (700-900 degrees C), the photocatalytic activity of the samples decreased obviously owing to the growth of TiO2 crystallites.

The application of a novel coupled process with oxalate washing and subsequent zero-valent iron (ZVI)/Air treatment for remediation of arsenic contaminated soil was investigated in the present study. Oxalate is biodegradable and widely present in the environment. With addition of 0.1 mol L(-1) oxalate under circumneutral condition, 83.7% and 52.6% of arsenic could be removed from a spiked kaolin and an actual contaminated soil respectively. Much more oxalate adsorption on the actual soil was attributed to the higher soil organic matter and clay content. Interestingly, oxalate retained in the washing effluent could act as an organic ligand to promote the oxidation efficiency of ZVI/Air at near neutral pH. Compared with the absence of oxalate, much more As(III) was oxidized. Arsenic was effectively adsorbed on iron (hydr)oxides as the consumption of oxalate and the increase of pH value. For the actual soil washing effluent, about 94.9% of total arsenic was removed after 120 min's treatment without pH adjustment. It has been demonstrated that As(V) was the dominant arsenic speciation adsorbed on iron (hydr)oxides. This study provides a promising alternative for remediation of arsenic contaminated soil in view of its low cost and environmental benign.

The influence of humidity on the decomposition of gas phase chlorobenzene (CB) was studied in a batch photocatalytic reactor using TiO(2) (anatase). Increasing relative humidity (>7% at 25 degrees C and 1atm) resulted in an increasingly detrimental effect on the adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition rate of CB. Mechanistic analysis indicates that the relative hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of a given chemical should dictate adsorption onto or penetration through water to the TiO(2) surface. It is suggested that multiple layers of water molecules are formed at the TiO(2) interface with air, even at low relative humidities. The multiple-layered film of water retards/prevents CB from reaching the reactive TiO(2) surface or contacting radical species in the boundary layer.

Activated carbon (AC) filters are used widely in air cleaning to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone (O(3)). This paper investigates the O(3) removal efficiency of AC filters after previous exposure to VOCs. Filter performance was tested using coconut shell AC and two common indoor VOCs, toluene and d-limonene, representing low and high reactivities with O(3). AC dosed with low, medium and high loadings (28-100% of capacity) of VOCs were exposed to humidified and ozonated air. O(3) breakthrough curves were measured, from which O(3) removal capacity and parameters of the Elovich chemisorption equation were determined. VOC-loaded filters were less efficient at removing O(3) and had different breakthrough behavior than unloaded filters. After 80 h of exposure, VOC-loaded AC samples exhibited 75-95% of the O(3) removal capacity of unloaded samples. O(3) breakthrough and removal capacity were not strongly influenced by the VOC-loading rate. Toluene-loaded filters showed rapid O(3) breakthrough due to poisoning of the AC, while pseudo-poisoning (initially higher O(3) adsorption rates that rapidly decrease) is suggested for limonene-loaded filters. Overall, VOC loadings provide an overall reduction in chemisorption rates, a modest reduction in O(3) removal capacity, and sometimes dramatic changes in breakthrough behavior, important considerations in filter applications in environments where both O(3) and VOCs are present.

The current study evaluated the technical feasibility of applying TiO2 photocatalysis to the removal of low-ppb concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly associated with non-occupational indoor air quality issues. A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate five parameters (relative humidity (RH), hydraulic diameter (HD), feeding type (FT) for VOCs, photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) reactor material (RM), and inlet port size (IPS) of PCO reactor) in relation to the PCO destruction efficiencies of the selected target VOCs. None of the target VOCs exhibited any significant dependence on the RH, which is inconsistent with a previous study where, under conditions of low humidity and a ppm toluene inlet level, a drop in the PCO efficiency was reported with a decreasing humidity. However, the other four parameters (HD, RM, FT, and IPS) were found to be important for better VOC removal efficiencies as regards the application of TiO2 photocatalytic technology for cleansing non-occupational indoor air. The PCO destruction of VOCs at concentrations associated with non-occupational indoor air quality issues was up to nearly 100%, and the CO generated during PCO was a negligible addition to indoor CO levels. Accordingly, a PCO reactor would appear to be an important tool in the effort to improve non-occupational indoor air quality.