Effect of injection of di- and tricyclic aromatic compounds on post-combustion formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

Mechanism for the growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the reactions of naphthalene with cyclopentadienyl and indenyl

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are globally concerned atmospheric particle-bound pollutants due to their toxicities. A mechanistic understanding of their formation from other environmental sources is of crucial importance for successful prevention of PAH. In the present work, the formation and growth mechanism of PAHs from the reactions of naphthalene with the cyclopentadienyl and indenyl radicals was investigated by using the hybrid density functional theory (DFT) at the MPWB1K/6-311+G(3df,2p)//MPWB1K/6-31+G(d,p) level. The rate constants for the crucial elementary steps were deduced with the aid of the canonical variational transition-state (CVT) theory with the small curvature tunneling (SCT) contribution. The formation of PAHs was involved in six elementary processes including: the addition reaction, ring closure, intramolecular H-shift, C-C cleavage, intramolecular H-shift and unimolecular elimination of CH3 or H. The C-C cleavage steps were revealed as the rate determining steps due to the extremely high barrier. At high temperature conditions like the combustion and pyrolysis of many hydrocarbons, the main products are phenanthrene, 4-methyl-phenanthrene and 1-methyl-phenanthrene from the reactions of naphthalene and cyclopentadienyl, and benzo(a)anthracene, 12-methyl-phenanthrene and 7-methyl-phenanthrene from the reactions of naphthalene and indenyl radicals. The reaction of naphthalene with indenyl radical is slightly more difficult than the reaction of naphthalene with cyclopentadienyl radical because of the bigger HOMO-LUMO orbital energy difference of naphthalene with indenyl relative to that of naphthalene with cyclopentadienyl.

PCDD/F formation from oxy-PAH precursors in waste incinerator flyash

The yield of PCDD/F in relation to the presence of oxygenated PAH in model waste incinerator flyash has been investigated in a fixed bed laboratory scale reactor. Experiments were undertaken by thermal treatment of the model flyash at 250 and 350°C under a simulated flue gas stream for 2 h. After reaction, the PCDD/F content of the reacted flyash and the PCDD/F released into the exhaust gas, and subsequently trapped by XAD-II resin in a down-stream condensation system were analyzed. The PAHs investigated were, dibenzofuran and benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]furan and were spiked onto the model flyash as reactant precursors for PCDD/F formation. The results showed significant formation of furans from both of the PAH investigated, however except from some highly chlorinated dioxin congeners, the formation of dioxins was not so common. Benzonaphthofuran was significantly more reactive than dibenzofuran in PCDD/F formation, in spite of the fact that dibenzofuran is structurally more similar to that of PCDD/F. Thus, there was no clear attribution between the chemical structure of PAH used and the formation of PCDD/F. There were considerable differences between the yields of PCDD/F congeners in the gaseous species and those in the reacted flyash under the same operational conditions. The concentration of PCDD/Fs was reduced at the higher reaction temperature of 350°C; however, the higher temperature resulted in the majority of the PCDD/F formed on the flyash being released into the gas phase.