PCO is a technique for both pollution control and environmental remediation. NREL has successfully decontaminated polluted groundwater at a number of test sites including the Lawrence Livermore Superfund site in California where the groundwater contained 200 parts per billion (ppb) trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent that has become oneof the most common groundwater contaminants in the United States. PCO reduced TCE levels to below 5 ppb – well within the drinking water standard set by the Environmental Protection gency (EPA).
A number of organizations including SEMATECH, the research consortium of integrated circuit manufacturers, are testing PCO on organic-compound-containing air streams produced during manufacturing processes. Other industries are applying PCO as a method to maintain indoor air quality and to disinfect drinking water. The U.S. Department of Defense is experimenting with PCO technology in two different projects: One is evaluating the technique's ability to decontaminate pinkwater, that, water containing traces of the explosive TNT; the other is examining PCO to treat a variety of hazardous wastes and process pollution associated with military operations.
PCO's versatility stems from its flexible operating characteristics. PCO is most effective on low-concentration and low-flow-rate waste streams, and it normally operates at – though it is not limited to ambient temperatures and pressures. Common chlorinated and oxygenated organic pollutants are highly susceptible to PCO and are destroyed without producing any NOx emissions. PCO systems are modular, portable, and ideally suited to the on-site waste treatment requirements of many small and mid-size businesses.
PCO is cost competitive with traditional techniques for treating air emissions contaminated by organic compound. The technique is particularly cost effective for low-flow-rate streams that many newly regulated industries, such as dry cleaners, surface coating shops, photo processors, and other manufacturers, are now required to treat.
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