Destruction of contaminants using a low-energy electron beam

US5561298A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hughes Aircraft Company · US

Inventors

• Eun-Hee Cirlin · Malibu, US
• Weldon S. Williamson · Malibu, US
• Franklin A. Dolezal · Calabasas, US
• Leroy J. Miller · Calabasas, US
• John J. Vajo · Mountain View Mobile Estates, US
• John D. Williams · West Chicago, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 9, 1994
• Grant date: Oct 1, 1996
• Expiry date: Feb 9, 2014

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B01J19/085
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Contaminant levels in a fluid such as air or water are reduced by producing a pulsed electron beam having an average primary electron energy of from about 90 to about 110 thousand electron volts (corresponding to an average injected electron energy of from about 45 to about 55 thousand electron volts in a preferred case) and directing the electron beam through the fluid. The contaminant compounds may include organic compounds and certain inorganic compounds such as NO.sub.x and SO.sub.x. The fluid is preferably contained in a contaminant reduction cell that is separated from an electron beam source by an electron-transparent window.