Investigation of trichloroethene destruction for the degreasing industry

The major objective of this project was to assess the application of atmospheric pressure microwave induced plasmas to the control of trichloroethene vapour emissions from industrial cleaning processes. Laboratory experiments, chemical modelling and chemical analysis were the three major elements of the project. A typical stream to be treated, as measured at the project test site, was 60 lmin-1 of air contaminated with 2 % trichloroethene vapour. The practical experiments carried out were trichloroethene dissociation by microwave plasma, propane-assisted microwave plasma and conventional propane combustion. Flow rates of 4 - 12 lmin-1, trichloroethene concentrations of 0 - 6 % in air and plasma powers of up to 3 kW were investigated. The processes were simulated using both equilibrium and kinetic modelling in CHEMKIN. Chemical analysis was done using gas chromatography with an electron capture detector, with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify eluted compounds. The destruction and removal efficiencies, by-products, temperature and robustness of each process were investigated. A simple economic and environmental analysis was done, and the results were compared with currently available processes.