New hybrid gas-cleaning technologies based on electroscrubber

• Grant number: 24/02379-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda de Lourdes Souza
• Grantee: Fernanda de Lourdes Souza
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent years, environmental fragility has been evident, with the depletion of natural resources and climate change. The main source of global warming is the increase in atmospheric pollution. The release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by anthropogenic sources, such as automobile exhaust, and various industrial processes increases the concentration of these pollutants in the environment. These compounds cause severe adverse effects on human health and the environment. Therefore, it is crucial to develop new methods and technologies to capture and remove these serious pollutants from gaseous flows. The absorption process coupled with advanced oxidation/electrooxidation processes presents itself as a viable and promising way to capture and degrade VOCs. Hybrid processes appear as an interesting alternative as they allow more efficient systems to be obtained with lower energy costs, making the technology more sustainable. Within this context, the present proposal aims to develop new hybrid technologies based on POA-scrubber and electro-scrubber effective in the treatment of polluting gases. To achieve this, firstly, different absorption systems will be evaluated and optimized, such as packing columns with different materials, jet and venturi effects, as well as parameters that influence the transfer efficiency of these gaseous pollutants to the liquid phase, such as height and diameter of the column, solvent, pressure and temperature. In the second part, the scrubber process will be coupled with advanced oxidation/electrooxidation processes to remove the pollutants. Furthermore, this project aims to investigate the synthesis and characterization of doped SnO2-based catalysts seeking excellent electrocatalytic properties for application in VOC electroabsorption processes. Finally, combined electrochemical processes such as UV radiation, mediated oxidation, Fenton processes will be employed to obtain greater faradaic electrochemical conversion efficiencies. Given the originality of this proposal, this work intends to contribute to the Brazilian share in the treatment of polluting gases, with the training of highly specialized human resources capable of working in both academia and industry, as well as generating relevant work on the international scene. (AU)