The Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Removal Performance of Desiccant-Based Dehumidification Systems: Testing at Sub-ppm VOC Concentrations

Abstract

We investigated the ability of a typical desiccant wheel to remove two common volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toluene and n-hexane, from an airstream at concentrations in the range 50–150 ppb. The effects of wheel speed, regeneration temperature, relative humidity, and VOC challenge concentration were examined. The desiccant wheel was able to transfer ~70% of the toluene and ~20% of the n-hexane from the process inlet stream to the regeneration outlet stream for the default process parameter settings. These removal efficiencies varied only slightly over the range of process parameters studied.