Comprehensive modeling of HFC-23 incineration in a CDM incinerator

Abstract

Considering that a significant part of used refrigerants have to be destroyed in an environmentally friendly manner together with the high global warming potential (GWP) of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), the development of a proper incineration method of HFCs becomes one of the viable methods in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry. To this end, in this study, the development of a comprehensive modeling of CHF 3 (HFC-23 or R-23) incineration is made to assist in the proper design and determination of optimal operating condition of a practical HFCs incinerator, since the refrigerant of CHF 3 is one of typical HFCs. For this, numerical investigation was performed by the development of a predictive model for the thermal destruction of the CHF 3 using CH 4 -air flames in an incinerator designed for CDM (clean development mechanism) project. First of all, comparison between calculation and operation data was made to evaluate the program developed in this study. Numerical calculation of CHF 3 -CH 4 -air flame predicts successfully the operation data of a CDM incinerator such as temperature, CHF 3 destruction rate more than 99.99 % and other species concentrations such as CO and NO at the exit of the incinerator. Further parametric study was performed also in terms of important variables such as excess air, amount of steam and incinerator size. In general, the results obtained appear physically acceptable and give a clear physical insight into the role of the important variables. Further work is strongly recommended for the development of a general turbulent reaction model for the thermal destruction of HFCs, especially for the condition of non-equilibrium turbulent reaction dominance.

Climate change and industrial F-gases: A critical and systematic review of developments, sociotechnical systems and policy options for reducing synthetic greenhouse gas emissions

“…HFC incinerators, for example, are able to directly destroy HFCs as well as 99.99% of other species concentrations such as carbon monoxide or nitrogen oxide. 189 Another approach is thermal oxidation, where a thermal oxidizer, cooling tower, absorption tower, and various tanks are used (shown in Figure 23). Although this process can remove Fgases almost completely, it is energy intensive, as oxidizer temperatures need to surpass 1200-1300°C and many such systems currently use natural gas.…”

The Effect of Catalyst Calcination Temperature on Catalytic Decomposition of HFC-134a over γ-Al2O3

“…It is also challenging to find appropriate low-cost materials for the reaction chamber. The formation of toxic byproducts, such as the strongly corrosive HF and dioxin, suggests that post-treatment should be a viable alternative option [9][10][11].…”