Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/L90194/01
Title:	CHARACTERISATION ULTRA-TRACE MEASUREMENT DIOXINSFURANS THERMALLY HOSTILE INCINERATOR FLUE GAS CLEAN PROCESSE
Principal Investigator:	Swithenbank, Professor J
Other Investigators:	McLeod, Professor M Sharifi, Professor VN McLeod, Professor C
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Dionex UK Ltd Thames Water Plc Varian Ltd
Department:	Chemical & Biological Engineering
Organisation:	University of Sheffield
Scheme:	JREI
Starts:	04 June 1998	Ends:	03 June 2001	Value (£):	57,263
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Combustion
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The main objective of this proposal is to study the formation, distribution and fate of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and poyichlorinated biphenlys (PCBs) originating in an incineration process in the UK. A recent study of toxic organic micro pollutant (TOMPS_ has shown that incinerators are a major source of dioxins in the UK, although thepathways by which they are formed are not fully understood. Without more rigorous and cost-effective sampling and analysis programmes, proper understanding of fundamentals will not be reslised hance it will not be possible to develop informed control strategies designed to minimise dioxin/furan formation and to minimise their emissions from the incinerators. Research is needed urgently to study to formation mechanisms of these materials in incinerators/thermal processes, and to put UK inputs/outputs/fluxes into a global and historical context. Provision of instrumental facility to perform such analyses is requested herein. Two research programmes requiring the Dioxon/Furan analysis facilityt are to be pursued. The first programme is concerned with the formation and migration of dioxin/furan within the opertating incinerators (ie municipal and clinical incinerators) whilst the second is concerned with the risks to human health incurred by the workers in the incineration process industry.As pointed out in the Foresight documents, the UK is considered to be lagging behind much of Europe in this important industrial arear and these investigations will make a major contribution to rectifying out position and in longer term impact positively on environmental air quality and human health.
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.shef.ac.uk