Determination of the Thermal Stability of Selected Hazardous Organic Compounds

Abstract

Laboratory determined thermal decomposition profiles and kinetic data for a list of 20 organic compounds are reported. All data were obtained in flowing air at mean gas-phase high-temperature zone residence times ranging from one to six seconds. The extrapolated temperatures required for 99.99% destruction of the parent compound at two seconds mean residence time, T_99.99(2), ranged from 600 C for 1,1,1-trichloroethane to 950 C for acetonitrile. The possible chemical mechanisms for destruction of hazardous organic compounds are examined and used to explain trends in the experimentally determined thermal decomposition data. It is proposed, through proper application of the principles of organic chemistry, kinetics, and physics that laboratory gas-phase thermal decomposition data generated under controlled conditions can be incorporated into models of full-scale incineration and serve as a viable ranking of waste incinerability.