Abstract
The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute undertook a pilot scale electron beam decomposition of dioxins in the flue gases from the municipal solid waste incinerator at the Takahama Clean Center. The conventional method, following the Japan Industry Standards (JIS) method, takes 2 weeks at least to extract and purify dioxins from the flue gases for analysis by GC/MS. However, using a carbon adsorbent, the time required for the extraction of dioxins was shortened from 16 to 2.5 hours. Further improvements in the clean up process enabled the overall time to be reduced to less than a half of that required by the JIS method. Using this simplified method allows analysts, who are not practiced in the pretreatment of flue gases, to prepare samples for dioxin analysis by GC/MS. The sampling and pretreatment of the flue gases can, with this process, be completed within 4 days with accuracy comparable to the JIS method.
