The role of chlorine in dioxin formation

Abstract

There is poor correlation between total chlorine in waste streams and formation of polychlorinated dibenzodioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/F) during waste combustion. This is because the active chlorine (Cl) species are strongly dependent upon combustion conditions. For homogeneous conditions, trace amounts of a hydrocarbon species (benzene) injected into the effluent from complete combustion of a mixed chlorocarbon fuel (ethylene and chloromethane) results in formation of stable, oxygenated and chlorinated compounds. This occurs over a broad range of temperatures (400–900°C), provided that a fraction of the system chlorine is in the Cl radical form. Cl is the only form in which..