Emerging Technology Report: Development of a Photothermal Detoxification Unit

administrative review, and it has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. ii FOREWORD The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is charged by Congress with protecting the Nation's land, air, and water resources. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support and nurture life. To meet this mandate, EPA's research program is providing data and technical support for solving environmental problems today and building a science knowledge base necessary to manage our ecological resources wisely, understand how pollutants affect our health, and prevent or reduce environmental risks in the future. of technological and management approaches for reducing risks from threats to human health and the environment. The focus of the Laboratory's research program is on methods for the prevention and control of pollution to air, land, water and subsurface resources; protection of water quality in public water systems ; remediation of contaminated sites and ground water; and prevention and control of indoor air pollution. The goal of this research effort is to catalyze development and implementation of innovative, cost-effective environmental technologies; develop scientific and engineering information needed by EPA to support regulatory and policy decisions; and provide technical support and information transfer to ensure effective implementation of environmental regulations and strategies. This publication has been produced as part of the Laboratory's strategic long-term research plan. It is published and made available by EPA's Office of Research and Development to assist the user community and to link researchers with their clients. iii There has long been interest in utilizing photochemical methods for destroying hazardous or~a~~~ mate~als~ ~nfo~~nately, the direct application of classic, low tempe~tu~ photo~l~em~~aI prowesses to ha~~dous waste detoxification are often too slow to be pra~ti~ai for wide stead use, ~u~he~ore~ low-~mperature photoel~el~i~ai processes often fail to complexly convey the tweeted wisps to mineral product of ~orl~~let~ conversion which are either ba~less to the e~vi~~~~~en~ or easily snubbed from the system effluent. ~ese~~l~ers at the ~~~iversity of Layton ~ese~~b Insti~t~ (~~~1~ have deveioped a unique p~~ototl~e~al prowess that overcomes achy of the probIe~~s p~vio~~sly encountered with direct pl~oto~he~~al detoxification te~hniq~es~ S~~~i~~aIly~ it has been found that there are ~lui~~er#~s advantages to conducting photo~he~~~ de~oxi~~a~on at ~Iatively high temperatures. Under the conditions of …