SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of a photochemical technique for destroying a highly toxic group of organic compounds known as dioxin-furans and consisting specifically of tetra- through octa-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. The photochemical technique is designed to destroy dioxin-furan compounds prior to their release to the environment from industrial facilities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that dioxin-furans are a serious threat to public health and has established stringent limitations applicable to dioxin-furan emissions from many types of industrial furnaces and kilns. Air Control Techniques, P.C. has developed a photochemical technique for the destruction of dioxin-furans; however, more work is needed to confirm the effectiveness of this control approach. During this SBIR Phase I research, Air Control Techniques, P.C. will perform computer kinetic modeling and pilot plant testing at two industrial facilities. The results of this research work will allow Air Control Techniques, P.C. to determine the energy requirements, operating costs, and dioxin-furan destruction efficiency of the photochemical technique. The broader impact of this research will be to prevent exposure of the public to toxic dioxin-furans and provide an economical means for industrial facilities to achieve stringent dioxin-furan emission limitations. Air Control Techniques, P.C believes that photochemical treatment for dioxin-furans will simultaneously reduce emissions of other contaminants such as formaldehyde and ammonia also present in the effluent gas streams of industrial furnaces and kilns

This SBIR Phase II research will advance the use of photochemistry for the control of toxic air pollutants emitted from industrial sources such as furnaces, boilers, and kilns. The types of ultraviolet lamp sources now used successfully for wastewater treatment, water purification, and air stream disinfection will be adapted for use in the more challenging environment of industrial process effluent gas streams. This research program concerns a photochemical system designed to destroy highly toxic compounds called dioxin-furans, which are unintended byproducts of some industrial processes. During an extended test program at an industrial facility, the researchers will evaluate: (1) long-term ultraviolet lamp energy efficiency in hot, dust-laden gas streams, (2) dioxin-furan destruction efficiencies during routine variations in source conditions, (3) reaction product characteristics, and (4) reductions in pollutants in addition to the targeted dioxin-furans. The broader impacts of this research will include an improved understanding of the chemical reactions of dioxin-furan compounds at the gas temperatures and pollutant concentrations typical of industrial gas streams. The results will help assess the applicability of photochemical systems to provide high efficiency air pollution control while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases produced by existing control techniques. Photochemical systems that destroy toxic air pollutants will provide an attractive alternative to systems that retain the toxic compounds on adsorbents disposed in landfills. The development of ultraviolet light technology will result in reduced air emissions of persistent toxic pollutants that bio-accumulates in the food chain and cause adverse human health effects