Low temperature catalytic combustion of VOC by utilizing ozone

The removal of VOC`s without external energy supply is a requirement of the industry that produces different waste VOC`s. The catalytic combustion using high activity catalysts of oxidation requires lower temperatures than the thermal process with a remarkable reduction of energy consumption. Some problems arise when low VOC concentrations in air (less than 1000 ppm v/v) are treated. In this case, the heat of combustion is too low to auto-sustain the reaction that occurs at an average temperature of 350{degrees}C, depending on the catalyst activity. This study shows the beneficial joined use of ozone and a catalyst to decrease the temperature at which VOC`s are combusted. The utilized temperatures ranged from 50 up to 300{degrees}C, depending on the compound. First, several different catalytic systems were tested in order to select the most active one. Second, on the selected catalyst, barium promoted copper-chromite oxide, a detailed comparison study of combustion of several chlorinated compounds and not-halogenated alifatic and aromatic compounds with/without ozone was performed. KPS characterization of the catalyst before and after use was carried out to find structure activity relationships.