Catalytic incineration of VOC containing air streams at very short contact times

A short-contact-time catalytic combustor described here is capable of incinerating air streams with low concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at conversions exceeding 99.5% for contact times on the order of 5 ms. This is accomplished by adding methane to the VOC-containing air stream to increase the fuel stream value and then passing the mixture over a platinum-coated foam ceramic monolith at 900-1,400 degrees C. The incineration of air streams containing toluene, chlorobenzene, acetonitrile, and thiophene was examined at concentrations ranging from 500 to 2,000 PPM. Residence time and methane concentration do not affect strongly the outlet concentration of the VOC and conversion. Greater than 99.5% conversion is observed for all compounds examined for residence times ranging from 4 to 12 ms and methane concentrations from 5.5 to 7.0% (80-40% excess air). The mechanism of reaction in this system is primarily heterogeneous, with some homogeneous reactions driven by the heat liberated by the heterogeneous reactions. A simple homogeneous model shows that homogeneous chemistry alone cannot account for complete conversion of the additional methane fuel at the reaction conditions described.