Decomposition of hazardous pollutants by ionizing radiation

Hirota, Koichi

Treatment of volatile organic compounds and dioxin by electron beams are presented in the specialized book. The book reviews experimental apparatus, decomposition, intermediates produced by oxidation of target substance from radiation chemistry point of view. For example, volatile organic compounds can be oxidized by radicals like OH produced by the irradiation of water existing in air by electron beams. Aromatic compounds are decomposed to be organic acids of formic, acetic, and propionic acids. These intermediates can be oxidized to carbon dioxides with a help of catalyst of manganese oxide. In the case of dioxin treatment, more than 90% decomposition of dioxin and furan was obtained by electron beam irradiation using actual fuel gases from Takahama Clean Center at Takasaki city. Dechlorination of higher chlorinated furan homologues during irradiation caused its lower decomposition compared to that of dioxins.