The air-water partitioning coefficients and wet removal of fluorotelomer alcohols

• Main Author: Lim, Benjamin Yong Zhi.
• Other Authors: Chang Wei-Chung
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering::Environmental pollution
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40494
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The air-water partition coefficients (Kaw) with a series of fluorotelomer alcohols, F(CF2CF2)nCH2CH2OH (n = 2, 3, 4 ) were determined as a function of temperature using the modified inert gas-stripping method with a stainless steel reactor. The inert gas-stripping experiments were conducted at (25, 32.5, 41 and 62) oC and analyzed in a linear regression in the derivation of a single Kaw value. Kaw values obtained at lower temperatures (25 and 32.5) oC generally were not in good agreement with the other values. The discrepancy is likely due to adsorption effects of FTOH to the column walls and air-water interfaces. The length of the perfluoroalkyl group, F(CF2CF2)n- group, had no discernible trend to the Kaw values obtained. This is due to the different molecular shapes of the different FTOH compounds. The calculated atmospheric lifetime (τWD) of FTOHs resulting from wet deposition was concluded to be an insignificant loss mechanism for atmospheric removal processes. Other significant conclusions are that it is prone to long-range atmospheric transport due to its relatively long atmospheric lifetime.