Modeling Oxidizing Scrubbers for Odor Control

In an oxidizing scrubber for odor control, the odorant is absorbed in a scrubber and must be oxidized to allow steady-state operation. The rate of absorption depends on the Henry's law coefficient, the gas- and liquid-phase mass transfer coefficients, and the rate of the oxidation reaction. The effect of a liquid-phase reaction on the liquid-phase mass transfer is often expressed in terms of an enhancement factor. Pseudo-first-order reaction rates were estimated for chlorination reactions for selected odorants. For simple amines and ammonia, the pseudo-first-order reaction rate is very fast, resulting in high enhancement factors for typical values of the mass transfer coefficients and odorant liquid-phase diffusion coefficients. For phenol and toluene, the reaction rate is relatively slow, and the enhancement factor is very close to unity.