ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Volume 00, Number 00, 2016

ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/ees.2016.0109

Photo-Catalytic Oxidation Technology for VOC Control:

Evaluation and Risk Characterization of Intermediates
of Benzene Degradation Adsorbed on Catalyst
Indramani Dhada,1 Pavan K. Nagar,1 Mukesh Sharma,1,* and Neha Gupta2
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India.
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Thapar University, Patiala, India.

Received: February 27, 2016 Accepted in revised form: June 9, 2016

Abstract
A sol-gel-based TiO2-coated photo-catalytic device was developed and demonstrated for field applications for
controlling volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in three varying indoor environments: (i) laboratory using
benzene (efficiency >99%), (ii) conference room of an industry producing organic solvents (mono, di, and tri
chloro benzene) (efficiency >70%), and (iii) chemistry laboratory using multiple solvents/VOCs (efficiency
>88%). The VOC degradation rate constant for coexisting multiple VOC was estimated to be 1.06/min/m2,
which was about 34% less than that of benzene. A VOC mass balance model was developed to describe
interaction between indoor air and kinetics of VOC degradation to estimate required extent of treatment for
safe VOC concentration in the indoor air. Toxic intermediates of benzene that were adsorbed on the catalyst
surface (solid phase) were identified and quantified with GC/GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy).
Intermediates accounted for less than 5% of the total mass of benzene treated. The overall hazard index of the
toxic intermediates released from regeneration of catalyst is estimated in the range 0.11–0.74, which is less than
1, and, thus, poses no significant risk to the occupants.

Key words: air pollution control processes, air toxics, exposure assessment, indoor air quality, nanoparticles

Introduction and UV as a source of energy is an effective, relatively in-

expensive, and safe technique (Dhada et al., 2015).
V olatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important
carbon and hydrogen containing air pollutants that are
present in ambient air, households, industrial areas, labora-
In semiconductor material, an e- of valence band (VB) is
excited by photo-irradiation to a vacant conduction band
(CB), creating an h+ in VB. The excited e- and h+ lead to the
tories, and office buildings (Yu et al., 2007). In the buildings,
formation of strong oxidizing hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the
close to VOC-emitting sources, VOCs can accumulate and
presence of humidity that can oxidize VOCs into water vapor
this results in high concentrations that are harmful for oc-
and carbon dioxide (Černigoj et al., 2007). The complete
cupants. Many VOCs have carcinogenic, mutagenic, or ter-
mineralization of VOCs does not happen instantly. Some
atogenic effects in animals and humans (Alberici and Jardim,
toxic intermediates will be formed due to partial oxidation
1997; Wang et al., 2007).
(Blount and Falconer, 2002) and adsorbed on the catalyst
Increasing the intake of ventilation air to dilute indoor
surface. Those intermediates can get released in the indoor air
VOC levels has limitations due to associated significant en-
at the time of regeneration of the catalyst by heating it at
ergy costs, and it is not of much use when ambient air (as in
about 450C. These toxic intermediates may be harmful to
industrial area) itself is highly polluted. The conventional
the building occupants, sometimes even more than the parent
VOC control technologies, condensation, incineration, and
VOC that is being treated (Mo et al., 2009a). Harmful in-
adsorption are not feasible for small rooms. Photo-catalytic
termediates could be a major impediment for field application
oxidation (PCO) with titanium and other semi-conductor-
of PCO technology.
based catalysts has been extensively studied for VOC control
Key issues of PCO-based VOC control technology, in-
(Epa, 2011; Tejasvi et al., 2015; Dhada et al., 2015). The
cluding TiO2 coating, reaction kinetics, and catalyst deacti-
PCO using nano-sized semiconductor TiO2 photo-catalysts
vation/regeneration, have been duly addressed and technology
is ready for being employed in the field (Dhada et al., 2015).
*Corresponding author: Department of Civil Engineering, Cen-
tre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of However, the issue of risk associated with toxic intermediates
Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India. Phone: +91 512 released from regeneration of catalyst surface remains un-
2597759; Fax: +91 512 2597395; E-mail: mukesh@iitk.ac.in resolved. Identification and quantification of intermediates,

1
2 DHADA ET AL.
formed in few minutes to few hours on catalyst surface, is
essential. In fact, there is a need to characterize the risk in a
comprehensive manner that accounts for an untreated amount
of parent VOCs and intermediates adsorbed on the catalyst.
The objective of this study is three-fold: (i) develop and
evaluate a photo-catalytic device for controlling VOCs in
indoor air, (ii) model the interaction between indoor air and
kinetics of VOC degradation, and (iii) identify and quantify
the toxic intermediates of benzene degradation (adsorbed
on catalyst surface) to characterize the comprehensive risk
of their exposure. Specifically, the device was evaluated
through three different studies: Case-1: laboratory using
benzene only, Case-2: conference room of an industry pro-
ducing organic solvents (monochloro benzene [MCB], di-
chloro benzene [DCB], and trichloro benzene [TCB]), and
Case-3: large chemistry laboratory using multiple solvents/
VOCs (dichloromethane, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone,
hexane, etc.). In addition, for Case-1, intermediates of ben-
zene degradation were quantified to characterize the risk
through estimation of hazard index (HI), ratio of chronic
daily intake, and reference dose.
Materials and Methods
PCO device set-up and its evaluation
A proto-type device (Fig. 1) consisting of seven numbers
of reactors (borosilicate glass tubes; 60 mm inner diameter
and 270 mm length; effective volume = 700 cm3; and inner
FIG. 1. Schematic of VOC control device. VOC, volatile
organic compound.
surface area = 524 cm2) was fabricated and installed in three
indoor environments (described later). The device was equipped
with temperature and relative humidity (RH) sensors with
the facility for holding UV-C transparent germicidal lamps
of 16 W (15 mm outside diameter, 300 mm length, and
k = 254 nm; Sankyo Denki, Japan) inside the reactor.
After trying various TiO2 coating methods (physical coating
and sol gel) on different substrates (aluminum and borosili-
cate glass) (Colmenares et al., 2014; Tejasvi et al., 2015),
the reactor was finally coated by the sol-gel method with a
mixture of (two sols: Sol A and Sol B) titanium tetra-
isopropoxide, di-ethanolamine, acetylacetone, deionized water,
and ethanol at a molar ratio of 1:1:0:0:34 (Sol A) and
1:0:1:3:20 (Sol B). The coating process and catalyst surface
morphology have been described in Dhada et al. (2015). The
summary of surface morphology, particle size (10.2 – 1.43 nm),
phase of catalyst (anatase phase), root-mean-square surface
roughness (1408 – 95 nm), band gap energy between CB and
VB (3.25 eV), film thickness (23.9 lm), and BET surface area
(98 m2/g) is provided.
The fabricated device was evaluated through three differ-
ent studies: Case-1, Case-2, and Case-3; Table 1 shows type
of indoor environment, VOC(s) being treated and its con-
centration, flow rate, and time of operation for three case
studies. Total VOC (TVOC) concentrations in all experi-
ments were measured using a TVOC analyzer (ppb RAE
3000, Honeywell, CA 95134-1708 USA), which measures
only the volatile phase of VOCs. The temperature and RH
during the experiments were 22.4C – 2.3C and 57% – 3%,
respectively.
Intermediates of PCO of benzene
For Case-1, the intermediates of benzene degradation in
the solid phase (adsorbed on catalyst) were identified on
GCMS and quantified on GC. The initial benzene concen-
tration was 150 – 30 ppm; this appears to be a high concen-
tration but laboratories using large amounts of benzene as
solvent can have such high indoor air concentrations. For
quantification of intermediates, identically coated glass chips
(same as surface of device) of a total area of 3 cm2 were kept
inside the device. In other words, the chips act as a surrogate
of the reactor surface and that of the exhausted catalyst. Our
study suggests that the catalyst needs to be regenerated after
12 h of continuous operation.
Dhada et al. (2015) have described the catalyst regenera-
tion techniques and reported that heating of the catalyst at a
temperature of 450C for 15 min was the most effective; the
catalyst recovery after regeneration was more than 98%. The
chips (after 12 h of operation of the device) were taken out
and extracted with methanol for identifying and quantifying
the intermediates adsorbed on the catalyst. It may be noted
that when regenerated by heating, the catalyst will emit the
same compounds that are absorbed at the chip. The chips
were immersed in 15 mL methanol and ultrasonicated (Fast
Clean) for 30 min. The extracted methanol was filtered
through a 0.45 lm syringe filter (Millex-HV, PVDF) and
concentrated to 1.5 mL with the help of Turbo Vap (Turbo
Vap-II; Caliper Life Science) by purging N2 gas at 23C.
Then, 0.4 lL of extracted concentrated liquid sample was
injected into the GC through a 1 lL syringe (Hamilton Bo-
naduz) for quantification of intermediates. GC-FID (Clarus
PCO FOR VOC CONTROL AND RISK OF INTERMEDIATES
Table 1. Description of Case Studies, Concentration of VOCs, and Other Physical Parameters
Indoor environment
Case study and VOC(s) Size of room
a
Case-1 Laboratory using benzene 8.6 · 6.1 · 3.7 m
as solvent
Case-2 Conference room of a 3 · 2.8 · 3 m
solvent industry using
MCB, DCB, and TCB
Case-3 Large chemistry laboratory 12.2 · 12.2 · 3.7 m
using dichloromethane,
methanol, ethyl acetate,
acetone, and hexane
a
Study includes intermediates of benzene photo-degradation and their health risk assessment.
VOC, volatile organic compound; TVOC, total VOC.
500, Perkin Elmer) was equipped with the fused silica capil-
lary column SPB-624 (60 m · 0.25 lm · 0.4 lm; Supelco
make) and calibrated for previously reported intermediates of
benzene (n-hexane, benzaldehyde, phenol, pentane, croto-
naldehyde, benzylalcohol, cyclohexane, cresol, benzoic acid,
hydroquinone, benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene,
methanol) ( Jacoby et al., 1996; Cao et al., 2000; Guo et al.,
2008; Han et al., 2008; Sleiman et al., 2009; Mo et al., 2009b;
Farhanian and Haghighat, 2014; Dhada et al., 2016) at four
levels (5, 50, 100, 500 ppm) for each of the compounds. The
temperature programming for GC was as follows: 40C, 5 min
hold, ramp@10C/min up to 200C, 5 min hold, ramp@10C/
min up to 240C, and 1 min hold.
Results and Discussion
Case-1: Benzene degradation, intermediates,
and health risk
The device (Fig. 1) was first run without switching on the
UV lights, and it was observed that inlet and outlet concen-
trations were identical at the level of about 100 ppm. As soon
as the UV light was switched on, within a few seconds, the
benzene concentration at the outlet dropped to less than
1 ppm (Fig. 2). The device was continuously operated for 8 h
for varying inlet concentrations of 76–160 ppm, with an av-
erage removal efficiency of 99.54%. The device performed
exceptionally well for benzene removal. However, as stated
earlier, the formation of intermediates is of significant in-
3
Flow rate Device inlet TVOC
in device Period of operation concentration
(m3/h) of device (minutes) (ppm)
0.42 490 76–160
0.24 95 62–81
0.42 480 67–250
terest from health point of view. In the following sections,
formation of intermediates (identification and quantifica-
tion), their release into the indoor environment, and health
risk are discussed.
Identification and quantification of intermediates
extracted from catalyst
The toxic intermediates are released from the surface of the
catalyst at the time of regeneration, and they have been ex-
amined by extracting the adsorbed compounds from the chips
kept inside the reactor. The GCMS identified the following
compounds, including probable compounds: (a) identified in
this study and also reported in literature are phenol, methyl
cyclopentane, pentane, acetone, hexane, cyclohexane, 1,4-
benzoquinine, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, cresol, hydro-
quinone, benzoic acid, and benzene [reported in literature
( Jacoby et al., 1996; Cao et al., 2000; Guo et al., 2008; Han
et al., 2008; Sleiman et al., 2009; Mo et al., 2009b)] and (b)
identified solely in this study are 4-methyl phenol-(4-cresol),
methyl cyclohexane. 2,2,4-trimethyl hexane, and 2,2,3-trimethyl
decane. We could quantify some of the intermediates (ace-
tone, benzoic acid, hexane, phenol, etc.) for which standards
were available; Fig. 3 shows mass (lg) of intermediate per
mg of benzene treated in 8 h of operation of the device.
The major intermediates that affect the photo-catalytic
activity of TiO2 surface are acetone and benzoic acid. The
intermediates adsorbed on catalyst surface (about 4.4% of
FIG. 2. Performance of
control device for degrada-
tion of benzene.
4 DHADA ET AL.

FIG. 3. Mass of interme-

diates (lg) adsorbed on
catalyst for every mg of
benzene treated in 8 h.

benzene mass that passed over the catalyst) are released Xn CDIi
during catalyst regeneration. Dhada et al. (2015) have re- HI ¼ i¼1
(1)
RfDi
ported carbon balance by measuring benzene and CO2 con-
centrations at the inlet and outlet of the device. A carbon where CDIi is the chronic daily intake for the i th contami-
balance of about 95% was obtained, suggesting a deficit of nant and RfDi is the reference dose (mg/kg-day) for the i th
5% at the outlet. The intermediates deposited on the catalyst contaminant.
surface account for about 3%. The remaining 2% carbon is CDI is calculated as per the following formulation:
not accounted for, which may be attributed to the parent
compound and/or intermediates (identified or unidentified)
adsorbed on other parts of the device. The health risk as- (CA · IR · ABSs · ET · EF · ED)
CDI ¼ (2)
sessment of intermediates is discussed next. (BW · AT)

where CA: Chemical concentration in air (mg/m3) (Table 2)

Risk assessment of released intermediates
It may be noted that all quantified intermediates have a
noncancer risk that can be accessed through HI (Asante-Duah,
1998). Specifically, the HI has been estimated for two cases: (i)
graduate students (GS) who work for 5 years in the laboratory
and (ii) permanent staff (PS) who work for 35 years in the
laboratory. The total chronic HI can be calculated as follows:
IR: Inhalation rate (0.83 m3/h for adult)
ABSs: % chemical absorbed into the blood stream
ET: Exposure time (8 h/day)
EF: Exposure frequency (261 days/year; 5 working days
a week)
ED: Exposure duration (5 years for GS and 35 years for PS)
BW: Body weight (70 kg).

Table 2. Indoor Air Concentration of Intermediates (Solid Phase) and Long-Term Health Risk
(Volume of Room Is 194.1 m3, and Mass of Benzene Treated Is 1606.83 mg)
CDI (mg/kg-day) HI
3
Intermediates CA (mg/m ) GS PS RfD (mg/kg-day) GS PS
Acetone 1.74E+00 8.42E-03 5.90E-02 1.00E-01 8.42E-02 5.90E-01
Hexane 1.48E-01 7.19E-04 5.03E-03 5.72E-02 1.26E-02 8.80E-02
Cyclohexane 1.61E-04 7.80E-07 5.46E-06 1.71E-00b 4.56E-07 3.19E-06
Crotonaldehydea 1.61E-04 7.80E-07 5.46E-06 — — —

1,4-Benzoquinonea 5.37E-03 2.60E-05 1.82E-04 — — —

Benzaldehyde 5.37E-04 2.60E-06 1.82E-05 1.00E-01c 2.60E-05 1.82E-04

Phenol 1.06E-01 5.15E-04 3.61E-03 6.00E-01 8.59E-04 6.01E-03
Benzyl alcohol 1.56E-03 7.54E-06 5.28E-05 3.00E-01c 2.51E-05 1.76E-04
Cresol 6.92E-02 3.35E-04 2.35E-03 5.00E-02 6.71E-03 4.69E-02
Hydroquinonea 3.39E-02 1.64E-04 1.15E-03 — — —

Benzoic acid 4.67E-01 2.26E-03 1.58E-02 4.00E+00 5.66E-04 3.96E-03

SHI = 1.05E-01 7.35E-01
a
RfD is not available for crotonaldehyde, 1,4 benzoquinone, and hydroquinone.
b
(U.S.E.P.A, 2003).
c
(GSI Environmental, 2013).
PCO FOR VOC CONTROL AND RISK OF INTERMEDIATES 5

AT: Average time (period over which exposure averaged:
70 years · 365 days/year)
The stated levels of parameters were taken from Asante-
Duah (1998).
Overall HI for the graduate students is 0.11 and for per-
manent laboratory staff, it is estimated to be 0.74. It may be
stated that the risk estimated through HI is well below 1 for
both students and permanent staff. Since HI is the ratio of
CDI to RfD (safe dose; Asante-Duah, 1998), a value of HI
less than one is considered acceptable. The major part of the
risk is from acetone, which is emitted during regeneration of
the catalyst. This analysis suggests that the risk of interme-
diates is acceptable. The technology can be employed in the
indoor environment without any undue risk or fear. It is re-
commended that regeneration of the catalyst (which takes
about 15 min) should be undertaken in an isolated area to
avoid the exposure of intermediates adsorbed on the catalyst
surface. To facilitate continuous operation of the device, a
fresh set of catalysts should replace the deactivated catalyst in
the shortest possible time.
centrations (ppm levels), the reaction reduces to a first-order
process by neglecting the term KAC in the denominator (1 >>
KAC).
dC
 ¼ Ko C (4)
dt
where KO = kKA (overall degradation rate constant, time-1)
Assuming the device to be a plug flow reactor, at steady
state, the outlet concentration can be expressed as follows:
Cout ¼ Ci e(  KO tr ) (5)
where tr is the retention time inside the device, Cout is the
steady-state VOC concentration at the outlet of the device,
and Ci is the steady-state inlet concentration to the device that
is the same as the steady-state concentration in the room.
Mass balance across the room: If the room is considered as
completely mixed, the VOC mass balance across the room
(having the VOC control device) can be stated as follows:

Accumulation ¼ rate of change in mass due to

Case-2: Evaluation of device in conference room
of a solvent industry using MCB, DCB, and TCB
The device was installed in the conference room of an
industry producing, storing, and handling organic solvents
(MCB, DCB, and TCB) to remove the VOCs (Fig. 4). Before
we discuss the performance of the device, we model the VOC
concentration inside the room by accounting for VOC infil-
tration of outdoor air, exfiltration of indoor air, VOC emis-
sion within the room, and VOC removal inflicted by the
installed device.
Mass balance across the device: Adsorption of VOCs and
the PCO on the catalyst surface can be represented by the
Langmuir–Hinshelwood equation:
dC k KA C
 ¼ (3)
dt 1 þ KA C
where KA is the adsorption coefficient for a gas on a material,
and k is the degradation rate constant (time-1). At low con-
½ðInfiltration of outdoor airÞ
þ ðindoor generationÞ
 ðexfiltration of indoor airÞ
 ðremoval through control deviceÞ
In mathematical terms,
dCr
V ¼ QC0 þ ER  QCr  ðCr  Cout  d Þq (6)
dt
where C0 is the concentration of VOC entering into the room,
Q is the rate of flow of air both in and out of the room, ER is the
emission rate of VOC from a source in the room, V is the
volume of the room, q is the rate of flow into the device, Cr is
the VOC concentration at any time inside the room, and Cout-d
is the VOC concentration at any time at the outlet of the device
(refer to Fig. 3 for the system and explanation of variables).
At steady state (Cr = Ci), the VOC concentration can be
expressed as follows:

QC0 þ ER
Ci ¼ (7)
Q þ q(1  e  Ko tr )

If N is the number of such devices installed (in parallel), Ci

can be calculated as

QC0 þ ER
Ci ¼ (8)
Q þ Nq(1  e  Ko tr )

If N is the number of such devices that will be required to

attain the desired steady-state concentration, Ci can be cal-
culated as

Q(C0  Ci ) þ ER
N¼ (9)
qCi (1  e  Ko tr )

Degradation rate constant per unit surface area of coating,

FIG. 4. Overall VOC control system installed inside room. k’ = 1.79/min/m2 is adopted from Dhada et al. (2015), since
6 DHADA ET AL.
FIG. 5. Modeled and ob-
served TVOC concentrations
at device. TVOC, total VOC.
the degradation constants for chlorinated benzene com-
pounds were not available. Ko = 0.6104/min is obtained by
multiplying k’ by the TiO2-coated surface area of seven re-
actors installed in the device (Ar = 341 · 10-3 m2); rate of
flow into the device q = 4 · 1 0-3 m3/min (at room condition);
and measured concentration immediately outside the room
C0 = 76 ppm, which enters the room through the door with a
flow rate of Q. The Q is estimated from the size of the door
(1 · 2.1 m) and the time required (2.3 s) to complete the cycle
of door opening and closing. The measured average veloc-
ity of air at the time of door opening was v = 1 · 10-2 m/s
(measured using anemometer: Lutron Anemometer; AM-
4201). On average, the door is opened 15 times during 10 h of
working. Thus, the rate of flow of air both in and out of the
room, Q = 6.04 · 10-3 m3/min. It may be noted that the room
had no provision for ventilation, and the opening and closing
of the door allowed the outside air to come inside the room.
Figure 5 shows the performance of the control device in
terms of its inlet and outlet TVOC concentrations. It is seen
that a steady-state concentration is attained in about 30 min at
both inlet and outlet of the device. The initial TVOC con-
centration at t = 0 was 76.0 – 6.0 ppm. The measured steady-
state concentration at the inlet of the device was 63.0 –
5.0 ppm. It may be noted that the steady-state concentration
at the inlet of the device is the same as the steady-state
concentration in the room.
By employing the developed model [Eq. (8)], the steady-
state concentration Ci in the room was calculated as 56.3 ppm.
This suggests that the model is performing well, as measured
FIG. 6. Ratio of steady-state TVOC concentration inside
the room and entering the room versus number of devices
for Case-2.
and modeled concentrations (inside the room) are in close
association with each other (Fig. 5). The measured steady-
state concentration at the outlet of the device was 18.2 –
3.6 ppm, and the modeled steady-state concentration [Eq. (7)]
was 26.7 ppm (Fig. 5). The model is over-predicting con-
centration by 47%. The possible reason for such a discrep-
ancy is that some of the VOCs may have adsorbed in the
reactor, tubings, and teflon caps that were not accounted for
in the model formulation. The efficiency of the device at
steady state was 71%. However, the effective VOC reduction
attained in the room was only about 20% for one such device.
It implies that we may have to install more such devices
depending on the desired VOC concentration in the room.
Equation (9) can be used to estimate the number of
control devices required for obtaining the desired concen-
tration of VOCs for the given size of the room, inlet VOC
concentration in the room, emission rate inside the room,
and ventilation or airflow in the room. For the current case,
Fig. 6 shows the ratio of steady-state concentrations (Ci/C0)
as a function of number of devices. We have estimated the
number of devices that may be required to bring the initial
concentration of 76 ppm (considering TVOC is benzene) to
a ceiling limit of OSHA at 25 ppm (Dhada et al., 2016) as
six (Fig. 6).
Case-3: Evaluation of device in large chemistry
laboratory using multiple VOCs (Dichloromethane,
Methanol, Ethyl Acetate, Acetone, Hexane)
The performance of the device was evaluated in a labo-
ratory by using multiple solvents/VOCs (dichloromethane,
methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, hexane). The retention time
of TVOC in the device was calculated as 0.7 min. Figure 7
shows the performance of the control device in terms of inlet
and outlet TVOC concentrations. It is seen that a steady-state
concentration is attained in about 100 min at both inlet and
outlet of the device. The initial period in Fig. 7 shows a high
concentration due to the fact that the air conditioning units
and room exhaust fans take a while before becoming ef-
fective; after about 100 min, concentrations stabilize. The
measured steady-state concentration at the inlet of the de-
vice was 73.0 – 5.0 ppm (i.e., after 100 min). The measured
steady-state concentration at the outlet of the device was
8.8 – 3.0 ppm. The reduction efficiency of the device at the
PCO FOR VOC CONTROL AND RISK OF INTERMEDIATES
steady state was 88.89%. The degradation rate constant, k’
for coexisting multiple VOCs was estimated to be 1.06/min/
m2, which is 34% less in comparison to the k’ value of benzene
(1.6/min/m2) (Dhada et al., 2015). The degradation of multiple
VOCs is expected to be slower than that of single compounds.
For multiple VOCs, the process is complex because of com-
petitive reactions and formation of complex intermediate
products of degradation that can deactivate the catalyst and
impede the overall degradation (Dhada et al., 2016).
Conclusions
This study has applied the PCO technology in the field and
demonstrated its usefulness for the control of benzene, co-
existing multiple VOCs, and chlorobenzenes. The estimated
degradation rate constant for coexisting multiple VOCs was
1.06/min/m2 (surface area of catalyst), which is smaller by
34% in comparison to that of benzene (1.6/min/m2). The
possible reason for a reduction in rate constant for multi-
ple VOCs is the occurrence of several concurrent competitive
reactions on the surface of the catalyst. The control efficiency
of the device was more than 99% for benzene, 88% for
multiple VOCs, and 71% for chlorobenzenes.
The other major focus of the study was to assess inter-
mediates of benzene degradation, as they may pose risk to
building occupants. Acetone and benzoic acid are major in-
termediates of benzene that are adsorbed on the catalyst
surface. The other intermediates include: 4-methyl phenol-
(4-cresol), Methyl cyclohexane. 2,2,4-trimethyl hexane and
2,2,3 trimethyl decane, 2-methyl-3-butan-1-ol, m-phenyl
benzonitrile, and 4-(phenyl methoxy)-1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-
amine. The overall HI for a laboratory using benzene as
solvent is in the range 0.11–0.74, which is well below the
acceptable value of 1. It is concluded that the technology is
safe and can be employed with confidence. However, it is
advisable that outlet gases of the PCO device are released
outside the room.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
chief executive, Ecotech Instruments, Gautam Buddhnagar,
India, for helping them in preparing the device and Kirit
Mehta and Navin C. Patel, Clean Enviro Projects Con-
sultancy Pvt. Ltd., Vapi, for permitting installation of the
device at industry premises. This work was financially sup-
7
FIG. 7. Performance of
control device for degrada-
tion of TVOC in chemistry
laboratory.
ported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New
Delhi, India, through Grant 1-14/20009-CT, dated March
30, 2012.
Author Disclosure Statement
No competing financial interests exist.
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