Electron beam induced purification of dilute off gases from industrial processes and automobile tunnels

The electron beam process has proved to be an efficient method for the removal of inorganic pollutants from flue gas. Since it simulates natural processes which occur in the atmospheric photochemistry, it appeared attractive to investigate the potential of the e-beam process to clean off-gases which contain hydrocarbon and inorganic trace components. Such emissions arise from industrial processes and from automobile tunnels. Commercial solvents were vaporized in air and irradiated with energetic electrons (300 keV). CO, CO₂ and aerosol particles were found as products and were determined quantitatively. The aerosol particles can be collected by a gravel bed filter and can be removed by combustion or biological degradation. From experiments and model calculations it was found that the e-beam process is a very economic tool to remove hydrocarbons from large off-gas volumes at initial concentrations of 50–100 mg C/m³, and that NO_x can be removed very efficiently from tunnel off-gas.