Method Development of Electron Beam Treatment of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons for Pollution Control

Date of Award

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Chemistry

First Advisor

Armando M. Guidote, Jr., PhD

Abstract

Yearly, 120,000 Filipinos die due to air pollution. One of the pollutants present in air is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Many PAHs are known to have adverse effects on humans and the environment. These negative effects elevate the need for the reduction of PAH contamination in the air. Electron beam irradiation is recently emerging as a potential waste-free, highly efficient PAH remediation method and this study seeks to develop a method for the electron beam treatment of PAH and to identify the products formed in the process.

Sonication and Soxhlet were compared as extraction methods, resulting in percent recoveries of 51–104% and 81–113%, respectively. Using the Soxhlet extraction and GC-MS analysis, this study aimed to optimize an electron beam treatment method for the degradation of PAH adsorbed onto quartz filters. Results showed that lower irradiation dosages led to the formation of high molecular weight PAHs. Qualitative analysis done on individual PAHs irradiated at 50 kGy demonstrate that low molecular weight PAHs undergo the HACA reaction. However, irradiation dosages of 120 kGy and above led to all 16 PAHs undergoing at least 25.9% degradation. An irradiation dosage of 240 kGy degraded 8 of the 16 PAHs by >94.0% (acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene) and achieved a total PAH percent degradation of 86.5%. This study has applications in reducing PAH emissions from point sources. It has also lent insight into the reactions that occur during electron beam treatment of PAH, which is useful in determining what steps can be taken to improve PAH removal efficiency.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS