Xylene vapors were oxidatively destroyed in a pilot-plant reactor of this design. Results of the pilot-plant expirement with xylene vapors. We used a smaller, bench-scale reactor to incinerate other gases, including heptane, toluene, methylethylketone, and tetrachloroethylene. This 50-Hz reactor was equipped with three pairs of electrodes. In our laboratory, we are also studying the oxidation of other diluted chlorocarbons and Freon.
Energy costs are higher if the pollutants are dispersed, because more gas has to be processed.
Therefore, the gas stream may have to first be concentrated for the process to work well, although the energy to accomplish that may offset the energy saved in the process. A small glass reactor of this design was used to study chloroform. Circulating water cools the reactor and creates a zone in which the reaction is quenched. It takes more energy to process a dilute gas than it does to clean one in which the pollutant is concentrated. Foul odors H 2 S and mercaptans often cause foul odors.