Microwaves and Sorption of VOCs on Oxide Catalysts

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Tis research focuses on the removal of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from controlled atmospheres and process effluents. The PIs will study the potential of microwave tradiation to enhance the adsorption and/or to assist in the regeneration of the sorbing solids. The research will determine the effect of microwave radiation during adsortion and desorption of VOCs over oxide sorbents, specifically the PIs will look at zeolites for the removal of hydrocarbons (with and without heteroatoms, e.g., Cl) from air in the presence of water vapor. The decomposition of VOCs induced by microwave radiation, the influence of microwave irradiation on the selectivity of adsorption and the efficiency of desorption, and the catalytic decomposition of VOCs will be explored. Zeolite sorbents with variable hydroxide contents, from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, will be used. The frequency of the microwave radiation will be varied from 1-120 GHz with variable power to determine the efficiencies of these processes compared to the microwave sorption spectra of the sorbent and sorbate syste ms. Three types of processes will be studied: (1) competitive adsorption in the presence of microwaves, (2) desorption induced by microwaves, and (3) decomposition of heteroatom VOCs catalyzed in part by microwave irradiation. The focus is on the selective removal of VOCs from air or carrier gas and the sorption of limited mixtures of gases, including H2O, C6H12, CHxCl4-x, CH3COCH3, NO, NH3 and thiophene. The adsorbents to be studied will be zeolites ZSM-5, Faujisites, and L zeolite with variation in hydroxyl content and modification to their hydroxyls by reaction, and. in addition, catalytic metals (e.g., Cu and Ni) will be cation exchanged into the lattice.