Application of nano-confined catalytic oxidation (NCCO) technology for odor removal in dried shark fin shop

Abstract

Dried shark fins are commonly used in Chinese cooking. Their ways of processing and storage, however, usually create an unpleasant and pungent odor. These odors were found to consist of mainly ammonia or amine-type compounds that are harmful for human. Recently, an innovative air cleaning system, which incorporates zeolite filter with an oxidant-generating device, is employed to remove various indoor air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia. The working principle of this air cleaning system is based on nano-confined catalytic oxidation (NCCO) reaction. The pollutants are adsorbed together with the oxidants into the pores of the zeolite, in which the oxidation reactions of the pollutant molecules are confined to take place. An attempt to minimize the ammonia and amines concentrations in a workplace by employing NCCO technology was conducted. To cope with the high concentrations of ammonia and amine that was generated from the source, various parameters such as the rate of fresh air intake, rate of pollutants adsorbed onto the zeolite media and the rate of NCCO reactions were taken into consideration. The experimental results indicated that by fine-tuning all these different engineering parameters, the NCCO technology was effective in depleting the concentrations of ammonia and amine.