Zinc oxide catalyst for indoor volatile organic compounds removal | |
| Author | Sawita Janwattanaudom |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-22-12 |
| Subject(s) | Volatile organic compounds--Analysis Zinc oxide--Analysis |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs are concerned as indoor air pollutant which can cause human health effects. Formaldehyde is one of VOCs that can be found easily in daily life. It is used as a bonding agent in many products. Also, smoking in the building can cause high concentration of indoor formaldehyde gas as a by-product of combustion. Nowadays, Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) process is popular technology to be used for removing indoor VOCs. In this study, the Zinc Oxide (ZnO) was coated on the glass sheet with two different methods, drop casting and spray methods. The absorbance spectrums of ZnO thin films were high in the range of UVA. They were tested the photocatalytic activity by decolorization of methylene blue under UVA light. The drop casting coated glass sheet removed the color of methylene blue by 44.13%. Similarly, the decolorization of the spray coated glass sheet was 43.38%. These two coated glass sheets had removal efficiency higher than bare glass sheet about 26 – 27%. After testing the photocatalytic in methylene blue, they were installed in the acrylic reactor with gas detector inside. The reactor was in the dark box with UVA lamps to avoid the natural light. The ZnO catalyst with two coating method in photocatalytic reaction can remove formaldehyde gas, but it cannot remove TVOC. Moreover, drop casting method cause higher removal efficiency than spray method. Also, drop casting coating method can slow down the TVOC increasing rate more than spray coating method. On the other hand, the catalyst surface area per volume was not affects formaldehyde removal efficiency and TVOC increasing rate. For the effects of UVA light intensity, formaldehyde removal efficiency was higher when the light intensity was higher. In contrast, there were optimum light intensity to slow down the TVOC increasing rate. Finally, the best condition to remove formaldehyde in this study was 16 drop casting coated glass sheet under UVA light intensity of 0.723 mW/cm2 . For the best condition to slow down TVOC increasing rate, it was 16 drop casting coated glass sheet under UVA light intensity of 0.175 mW/cm2 . |
| Year | 2022 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ekbordin Winijkul |
| Examination Committee(s) | Thammarat Koottatep;Bora, Tanujjal |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2022 |