Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from polluted air

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are among the most common air pollutants emitted from chemical, petrochemical, and allied industries. VOCs are one of the main sources of photochemical reaction in the atmosphere leading to various environmental hazards; on the other hand, these VOCs have good commercial value. Growing environmental awareness has put up stringent regulations to control the VOCs emissions. In such circumstances, it becomes mandatory for each VOCs emitting industry or facility to opt for proper VOCs control measures. There are many techniques available to control VOCs emission (destruction based and recovery based) with many advantages and limitations. Therefore, deciding on a particular technique becomes a difficult task. This article illustrates various available options for VOCs control. It further details the merits, demerits and applicability of each option. The authors hope that this article will help in critically analysing the requirements and accordingly decide on the appropriate strategy to control VOCs. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.