Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Increasingly stringent regulations on air pollutants including ozone and VOCs warrant continuous research to develop more efficient approaches to reduce VOCs emissions to the atmosphere and allow for humans' more sustainable existence with the environment. Adsorption is widely used in air treatment for controlling VOC emissions but irreversible adsorption (aka heel buildup) is a common challenge. If adsorbed species accumulate on the adsorbent, the lifetime of the adsorbent decreases and operation and maintenance costs for the system increase. This research, therefore, will aim at minimizing VOC emissions through understanding the performance of select adsorbents in capturing VOCs commonly generated from organic solvents use, and finding efficient ways to regenerate the adsorbents to reuse the adsorbent and recover the VOCs for reuse. This research will be beneficial to many industrial sectors as it will contribute to lowering the emissions of organic vapors and enhancing the air quality in Canada. In addition, this research will contribute to the training of high quality personnel in area of strategic importance to Canada.