benzofurans and chlorobenzene

Nitrogen containing compounds such as ammonia, urea and amines can effectively inhibit the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Sewage sludge accumulates both sulfur and nitrogen during wastewater treatment so it could be used to reduce PCDD/Fs formation. Indeed, it is observed in this study that the gas evolving from the sludge drying process can significantly suppress chlorobenzene (CBz) and PCDD/Fs formation from fly ash collected from a hospital waste incinerator. For instance, the reduction of hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) and PCDD/Fs amount was 92.1% and 78.7%, respectively, when the drying gas evolving from 2g sludge flew through 2g fly ash. These tests were conducted in the frame of projects devoted to hospital waste incineration. The disposal technology for hospital waste (HW), developed in this institute, features rotary kiln pyrolysis combined with post-combustion followed by flue gas cleaning. Hence, some preliminary tests were devoted to investigate dioxins suppression by co-pyrolysis and co-combustion of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and sludge in lab scale. More experimental research will be conducted to appropriately assess these effects of sludge on PCDD/Fs emissions during co-pyrolysis/combustion of HW and sludge.

Topics: Ammonia; Benzofurans; Chemical Phenomena; Chlorobenzenes; Coal Ash; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; Dioxins; Equipment Design; Hexachlorobenzene; Hospitals; Incineration; Medical Waste Disposal; Nitrogen; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; Sewage

Sampling and analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are both time-consuming and expensive. In principle, real-time monitoring of chlorobenzene (CBz) as an indicator for PCDD/Fs could be useful to control and optimize incinerator operating conditions. To test this strategy, CBz was analyzed together with PCDD/Fs in flue gas samples collected from a hospital waste incinerator. Moreover, lab experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of temperature and oxygen on CBz formation from fly ash from the same incinerator. The experimental results demonstrate that chlorobenzene (in particular PeCBz) correlate well with PCDD/Fs, in line with previous research. The optimum temperature of CBz formation is in a range of 350 to 400 degrees C and CBz yield increases significantly with oxygen, in line with PCDD/Fs formation. This study is useful for confirming the de novo mechanism and defining correlations between CBz and PCDD/Fs.

Topics: Benzofurans; Chlorobenzenes; Oxygen; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; Temperature

Chlorination and thermal degradation of 2-chlorodibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran were investigated using sealed tubes at 350 degrees C in the presence of CuCl(2) or CuCl. Twelve organic species, including polychlorobenzenes, were identified and quantified as a function of residence time. Time behaviours of PCDDs and PCDFs regarding destruction processes were compared. The formation of polychlorobenzenes from the thermal heterogeneous degradation of PCDDs was only a minor pathway but it could contribute to the good linear correlation observed between the concentration of polychlorobenzenes and those of PCDD/Fs in the emissions of municipal solid waste incinerators.

Topics: Benzofurans; Carbon Dioxide; Chlorobenzenes; Copper; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; Dioxins; Halogenation; Hot Temperature; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other organic micropollutants were determined in dated sediment/soil cores collected from the flood-plain of the river Elbe near Pevestorf (PT), approximately 125 km upstream of Hamburg, and Heuckenlock (HL) in southeast of Hamburg. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs peaked sharply at PT in the 1950s and at HL at the end of the 1940s. Cluster analyses provide evidence that the region of Bitterfeld-Wolfen (about 350-400 km upstream of Hamburg) could be the source of the PCDD/F contamination existing in the cores PT and HL since the 1940s. Obviously it is caused by sediments of the river Elbe of a similar composition. Whereas the PCDD/Fs, HCHs (hexacyclohexane isomers), DDX (DDT, DDD, DDE), and tetrachlorinated ethers in PT and HL presumably originated predominantly from the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region, organotin compounds in HL and dichlorinated haloethers in HL during the 1940s and 1950s can probably largely be attributed to emissions from the Hamburg region. Although they are separated by a large distance, in both sediment cores PT and HL concentrations and composition patterns of most organic micropollutants analyzed widely match. Inductively it can be concluded that similar contaminations will be found in many of the river bank soils between the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region and Hamburg. Excavation of top soils may uncover highly contaminated materials. Since the dated sediment cores show the variation in contaminants in the Elbe sediments over a defined time period, it is possible to make an approximate assessment of the actual degree of contamination to be expected in areas where in previous decades contaminated dredged sediments from the Elbe and from the Port of Hamburg have been deposited on land and used for building plots or for agricultural purposes.

Topics: Benzofurans; Chlorobenzenes; Geologic Sediments; Germany; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Organotin Compounds; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Rivers; Soil Pollutants

Formation of polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD/Fs) from a model mixture of products of incomplete combustion (PICs) representative of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) flue gases, over a fixed bed of MSWI fly ash has been investigated. For comparison, a single model compound (chlorobenzene) was also briefly studied. A newly developed lab-scale system enabled the application of (very) low and stable concentrations of organic substances--of 10(-6) M or less-to approach realistic conditions. Samples taken at several time intervals allowed the observation of changes in rates and patterns due to depletion of the carbon in fly ash. The model flue gas continuously produced PCDDs and PCDFs after the de novo reaction had ceased to occur. Dioxin output levels are comparable to those of "old" MSW incinerators. Replacing the PIC trace constituent phenol by its fully 13C-labeled analogue led to, e.g., PCDD with one labeled ring as prominent product, meaning that the formation is about first order in phenol, contrary to earlier assumptions. The meaning of the results for the formation of dioxins in the MSWI boiler is discussed.

Topics: Air Pollutants; Benzofurans; Carbon; Chlorobenzenes; Coal Ash; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; Heptanes; Incineration; Particulate Matter; Phenol; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins