Study on the gas-phase photolytic and photocatalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene

The photodegradation of trichloroethylene with or without the NAPL by UV irradiation in surfactant solutions

The photodegradation of trichloroethene (TCE) with or without nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPL) by ultraviolet irradiation in surfactant solutions was examined in this study. The photodecay of TCE was studied at monochromatic 254nm UV lamps. The effects of the type of surfactants, initial surfactant concentrations, pH levels and NAPL concentrations were examined to explore the photodecay of TCE. All the photodegradation of TCE followed pseudo-first-order decay kinetics at various conditions. It was found that Brij 35 overdose and higher initial pH levels may retard or inhibit the photodecay of TCE, mainly due to protons, intermediate generation and change of surfactant structure in the processes. The optimal condition for TCE photodecay was suggested based on the analysis of kinetics data, from which the reaction mechanism of TCE in the presence of NAPL form was also studied. In general, the reactions of TCE in micellar solution and NAPL pool can be considered as independent pathways due to the low molecule diffusion between the two phases.

Photocatalysis of gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE) over TiO2: the effect of oxygen and relative humidity on the generation of dichloroacetyl chloride (DCAC) and phosgene

Batch photocatalytic degradation of 80+/-2.5 ppm V trichloroethylene (TCE) was conducted to investigate the effect of the oxygen and relative humidity (RH) on the formation of the dichloroacetyl chloride (DCAC) and phosgene. Based on the simultaneous ordinary differential equations (ODEs), the reaction rate constants of TCE ((2.31+/-0.28) approximately (9.41+/-0.63)x10(-2) min(-1)) are generally larger than that of DCAC ((0.94+/-1.25) approximately (9.35+/-1.71)x10(-3) min(-1)) by approximate one order. The phenomenon indicates the degradation potential of TCE is superior to that of DCAC. DCAC appreciably delivers the same degradation behavior with TCE that means there exists an optimum RH and oxygen concentration for photocatalysis of TCE and DCAC. At the time the peak yield of DCAC appears, the conversion ratio based on the carbon atom from TCE to DCAC is within the range of 30-83% suggesting that the DCAC generation is significantly attributed to TCE degradation. Regarding the phosgene formation, the increasing oxygen amount leads to the inhibitory effect on the phosgene yield which fall within the range of 5-15%. The formation mechanism of phosgene was also inferred that the Cl atoms attacking the C-C bond of DCAC results to the generation of phosgene rather than directly from the TCE destruction.