This is an award to support research on the feasibility of using an electron beam to remove hydrocarbon pollutants from exhaust gases emerging from combustion processes to reduce or eliminate their potential for polluting air into which they are discharged. The experiments will be conducted using an existing, pulsed induction accelerator to irradiate controlled gas mixtures containing aromatic and chlorinated aromatic organic compounds such as benzene and chlorobenzene. The work plan includes analyses to identify the byproducts produced during radiation, their concentrations and the dose of radiation required to reduce their concentration to environmentally acceptable levels.. Results of this project are expected to provide the basis for engineering design of an optimal, all-solid-state induction accelerator system for the reduction to acceptable levels of the concentration of hydrocarbons in exhaust gases from combustion processes that are subjected to electron beam radiation. The proposal leading to this award was submitted in response to NSF 92-30, Small Business Innovation Research under Topic No. 25d, Environmental Systems.
