Application of activated carbon in a microwave radiation field to treat trichloroethylene Original Research Article

Desorption and destruction are successfully applied to treat hazardous/toxic organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE), para-xylene, naphthalene, and some gasoline-type of hydrocarbon materials. A process based on low power density microwave (MW) radiation can easily combine these two technologies by only adding granulated activated charcoal (GAC). A fluidized-bed reactor can be used for the treatment of TCE, fluidized with air or argon-containing volatilized organic compounds (VOCs). A MW desorption of the TCE in the reactor is achieved by inducing steam distillation in the GAC. A destruction of the organic compounds in the process is occurred to arc between GAC particles while they are exposed to MW radiation. All these organic compounds can be decomposed up to 100%. This means that they are non-detectable with GC–MS. In the experiments, GC–MS is used to detect VOCs such as TCE. Here, only hydrogen chloride (HCl) and carbon dioxide (CO2) can be detected as products. It also allows a mass balance for the experimental results, since no other organic compounds can be found in the gas phase analyzed by applying a GC–MS system.