pH-indicators doped polysaccharide LbL coatings for hazardous gases optical sensing.

Sensitive layer-by-layer (LbL) coatings for optical detection of gaseous NH(3) and HCl were prepared by self-assembly of oppositely charged polysaccharides (chitosan and λ-carrageenan) followed by doping LbLs with pH-sensitive dyes - bromothymol blue (BTB) and Congo red (CR). It has been shown that CR, being an amphoteric dye, diffuses into LbL films regardless of the charge of the outermost polyelectrolyte layer, and the dye loading increases linearly with the LbL film thickness, whereas BTB diffuses into LbL films only when the outermost layer is positively charged, and linearity between dye loading and film thickness holds only up to 8-12 double layers (DLs) deposited. Formation of dye-doped LbL coatings at the surface of K(+)/Na(+) ion-exchanged glass has allowed fabrication of composite optical waveguide (OWG) gas sensor for detection of ammonia and hydrochloric acid vapors. The response time of BTB-doped composite OWG for ammonia detection was below 1s, and the detection limit was below 1 ppm. CR-doped OWG sensors have shown high sensitivity to HCl vapor but slow relaxation time (up to several hours for 12 DL LbL films).

Recovery of hydrochloric acid from the waste acid solution by diffusion dialysis.

Diffusion dialysis using a series of anion exchange membranes was employed to recover HCl acid from the waste acid solution. Effects of flow rate, flow rate ratio of water to feed, and Fe ion concentration on the recovery of HCl were investigated. It was found that the flow rate ratio was an important factor in the diffusion dialysis operation, and the recovered HCl concentration and Fe ion concentration in diffusate decreased significantly with the change of flow rate ratio from 0.4 to 1.7. In addition, the higher the Fe ion concentration in the feed, the higher the Fe leakage in the recovered acid solution. The HCl recovery efficiency was influenced not only by the recovered acid concentration, but also the outlet flow rate. While using the actual pot galvanizing waste HCl solution with the co-existence of 2.70 mol/L of Fe and 0.07 mol/L of Zn ions, over 88% HCl recovery efficiency could be achieved and Fe leakage was within the range of 11-23%. However, over 56% of Zn leakage was found due to the formation of negative Zn complexes in solution, which was unfavorable for the recovered acid reuse.

Removal of hydrogen chloride from gaseous streams using magnesium-aluminum oxide.

Magnesium-aluminum oxide (Mg-Al oxide) obtained by thermal decomposition of Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (Mg-Al LDH) effectively removed HCl from gaseous streams. HCl removal was greater in the presence of added water vapor at all temperatures examined and increased with decreasing temperature in both the presence and absence of added water vapor. Wet and dry removal of gaseous HCl were attributed to the production of MgCl2 . 6H2O and MgCl2 . 4H2O, respectively. For the wet scrubbing process, the reconstruction reaction of Mg-Al LDH from Mg-Al oxide was the primary mechanism for increased HCl removal.

Dry scrubbing of acid gases in recirculating cyclones.

This paper describes a laboratory-scale study on the use of recirculating cyclones as reaction chambers for dry scrubbing of gaseous HCl with solid slaked lime particles. This gas cleaning system combines a numerically optimized reverse flow gas cyclone (RS_VHE geometry) with a straight-through cyclone concentrator, which simultaneously increases the capture of the solid particles and promotes their partial recirculation. A laboratory-scale study was undertaken to test this technology and to compare its performance to a modified Stairmand HE reverse flow cyclone without recirculation. The experimental conditions were: reaction temperature approximately 326 K, gas flow rate approximately 2.9 x 10(-4) Nm(3) s(-1) and relative humidity of the gas approximately 8.5%. The experimental variables tested were the solids load (1.0-9.2 x 10(-7) kg s(-1)) and HCl concentration (0.4-2.8 x 10(-2) mol m(-3)) in the inlet gas. The experimentally obtained particulate removal efficiencies with the recirculating cyclones ( approximately 98%) were higher than those obtained with the Stairmand HE cyclone ( approximately 93%), with the additional advantage of having significantly lower pressure drop. As for the acid removal efficiencies ( approximately 10-96%), no significant differences were found between the two systems tested under the same experimental conditions. The possibility of using optimized recirculating cyclones for gas cleaning in a dry scrubbing process is very promising, since this is a low cost technology, highly efficient both for the removal of acid gases and for the capture of solid particles, which has the advantage of not requiring a post-reaction de-duster.

Efficient control system for low-concentration inorganic gases from a process vent stream: application of surfactants in spray and packed columns.

Control of low-concentration pollutants from a semiconductor process vent stream using a wet-scrubbing technique is a challenging task to meet Taiwan environmental emission standards. An efficient wet-scrubber is designed on a pilot scale and tested to control low concentration acid and base waste-gas emission. The scrubber system consisted of two columns, i.e., a fine spray column [cutoff diameter (based on volume), Dv(50) = 15.63 microm; Sauter mean diameter (SMD) = 7.62 microm], which is especially efficient for NH3 removal as the pH of the spraying liquid is approximately 7 followed by a packed column with a scrubbing liquid pH approximately 9.0 mainly for acids removal. It is observed that use of the surfactants in low concentration about 10(-4) M and 10(-7) M in the spray liquid and in the scrubbing liquid, respectively, remarkably enhances the removal efficiency of the system. A traditional packed column (without the spray column and the surfactant) showed that the removal efficiencies of NH3, HF, and HCl for the inlet concentration range 0.2 to 3 ppm were (n = 5) 22.6+/-3.4%, 43.4+/-5.5%, and 40.4+/-7.4%, respectively. The overall efficiencies of the proposed system (the spray column and the packed column) in the presence of the surfactant in the spray liquid and in the scrubbing liquid forthese three species were found to increase significantly (n = 5) from 60.3+/-3.6 to 82.8+/-6.8%, 59.1+/-2.7 to 83.4+/-4.2%, and 56.2+/-7.3 to 81.0+/-6.7%, respectively. In this work, development of charge on the gas-liquid interface due to the surfactants has been measured and discussed. It is concluded that the presence of charge on the gas-liquid interface is the responsible factor for enhancement of the removal efficiency (mass-transfer in liquid phase). The effects of the type of surfactants, their chain length, concentration in liquid, etc. on the removal efficiency are discussed. Since the pilot tests were performed under the operating conditions similar to most of the wet-scrubbers operated in semiconductors manufacturing facilities for inorganic pollutants, this study can be applied to modify the existing wet-scrubbers to enhance the removal efficiencies, especially for low-concentration pollutants.

Control of acid gases using a fluidized bed adsorber.

During incineration, secondary pollutants such as acid gases, organic compounds, heavy metals and particulates are generated. Among these pollutants, the acid gases, including sulfur oxides (SO(x)) and hydrogen chloride (HCl), can cause corrosion of the incinerator piping and can generate acid rain after being emitted to the atmosphere. To address this problem, the present study used a novel combination of air pollution control devices (APCDs), composed of a fluidized bed adsorber integrated with a fabric filter. The major objective of the work is to demonstrate the performance of a fluidized bed adsorber for removal of acid gases from flue gas of an incinerator. The adsorbents added in the fluidized bed adsorber were mainly granular activated carbon (AC; with or without chemical treatment) and with calcium oxide used as an additive. The advantages of a fluidized bed reactor for high mass transfer and high gas-solid contact can enhance the removal of acid gases when using a dry method. On the other hand, because the fluidized bed can filter particles, fine particles prior to and after passing through the fluidized bed adsorber were investigated. The competing adsorption on activated carbon between different characteristics of pollutants was also given preliminary discussion. The results indicate that the removal efficiencies of the investigated acid gases, SO(2) and HCl, are higher than 94 and 87%, respectively. Thus, a fluidized bed adsorber integrated with a fabric filter has the potential to replace conventional APCDs, even when there are other pollutants at the same time.

[Experimental and mechanism analyses on HCl emission control during PVC combustion in fixed beds].

Incineration of chloridated plastic (PVC) in solid wastes contributes much to HCl pollutant in air environment. The characteristics of HCl emissions and reduction during PVC combustion were conducted in a nearly isothermal, externally heated, horizontal quartz-tube reactor. With increasing temperature from 700 to 900 degrees C, the conversion of HCl increased leniently from 82.5% to 88.3%. High excess air factor enhanced a small amount of HCl existing in form of Cl2. The calcium-based sorbents including CaCO3, Ca(OH)2, Ca(CH3COO)2 exhibited high HCl capture efficiencies from 68% to 79%, while magnesium-based sorbent less than that of 3%. Influences of operational variables, i.e., size of sorbent, Ca/Cl molar ratio and combustion fume compositions, on the HCl reduction were discussed. From a point of view of equilibrium constant of dechloridization reaction the experimental results were explained in detail.

Solubilized bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) from mouse osteosarcoma and rat demineralized bone matrix.

A selection of proteins including bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) was extracted in a disaggregated form from Dunn osteosarcoma or rat demineralized bone matrix by 4M guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) solution without losing its biological activity. The GuHCl extracts of Dunn osteosarcoma were divied into 4 different fractions by cesium chloride (CsCl) density gradients. Under a dissociative condition, the highest new bone yield was obtained in the low dense top one-third fraction, and BMP acitivity declined with increase in the density of each fraction. No BMP potential was observed in the surface-gel fraction under dissociative conditions. Under an associative condition (low GuHCl concentrations), BMP activity appears in the surface-gel fraction, while under a dissociative condition (high concentrations of GuHCl) BMP appears in the fraction below the surface gel. These facts suggest that under associative conditions, BMP aggregates with other low dense proteins in the surface-gel fraction and that this may be the state of aggregation of BMP in cells and matrix in nature. Present observations support the assumption that BMP is a relatively low density protein and excludes the idea of BMP activity in the collagen molecule, per se. A specific protein, with an apparent molecular weight of 63,000 daltons, is present in all fractions that exhibit BMP activity, and absent in fractions that do not exhibit this activity. BMP is not species-specific; rat BMP induces bone formation in mice. CsCl density-gradient centrifugation is an efficient tool for further purification and isolation of BMP.