Tofani, Rick (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology)

Purpose

Presently, throughout North America, there exist an estimated 4 million registered petroleum product and other chemical containing storage tanks at industrial sites and service stations, the majority being typically open vented to atmosphere. Installation of UV based pollution control devices has been a common practice for years, with large units typically installed at commercial/industrial facilities and smaller units normally located at residential complexes. The gap in emission control largely 'overlooked' is the installation of an economical and efficient reactor device on storage tanks emitting low volume/pressure flows of toxic and/or odorous vapours such as benzene, toluene and other BTEX compounds. The proposed assembly design incorporates the unique feature of combining a longer retention time, larger surface contact area and catalysts within the reactor device, thereby substantially increasing effectiveness of converting volatile organic compounds to carbon dioxide and water.