Removal of Inorganic Odorous Compounds by Scrubbing Techniques using Silver Nano-particles

Silver as a metal catalyst has been used to remove odorous compounds. In this study, silver particles in nano sizes ($5{\sim}30nm$) were prepared on the surface of $NaHCO_3$, the supporting material, using a sputtering method. The silver nano-particles were dispersed by dissolving $Ag-NaHCO_3$ into water, and the dispersed silver nano-particles in the aqueous phase was applied to remove inorganic odor compounds, $NH_3$ and ${H_2}O$, in a scrubbing reactor. Since ammonia has high solubility, it was removed from the gas phase even by spraying water in the scrubber. However, the concentration of nitrate (${NO_3}^-$) ion increased only in the silver nano-particle solution, implying that the silver nano-particles oxidized ammonia. Hydrogen sulfide in the gas phase was rapidly removed by the silver nano-particles, and the concentration of sulfate (${SO_4}^{2-}$) ion increased with time due to the oxidation reaction by silver. As a result, the silver nano-particles in the aqueous solution can be successfully applied to remove odorous compounds without adding additional energy sources and producing any harmful byproducts.

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