PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFICATION OF OXYGEN-CONTAINING GAS

摘要

A process for purifying an oxygen-containing gas, characterized in that the process comprises a first step of irradiating an ultraviolet ray having a short wavelength of 110 nm or more and less than 200 nm to a gas such as air to be treated, to thereby generate ozone, a second step of irradiating an ultraviolet ray having a medium wavelength of 200 nm or more and less than 300 nm to the gas having been treated in the first step, to thereby form active oxygen, and a third step of irradiating an ultraviolet ray having a long wavelength of 300 to 380 nm to the gas having been treated in the second step, to thereby convert the above active oxygen to an oxygen molecule in a ground state, wherein at least the second and/or third steps are carried out in the presence of a photocatalyst preferably comprising orthorhombic titanium oxide particles or said particles and, carried thereon, fine particles of another metal; and an apparatus for the process. The process can be employed for sterilizing, deodorizing and purifying an oxygen-containing gas instantaneously and also for decomposing an organic compound which is difficult to decompose by means of a conventional process to a low molecular weight compound such as carbon dioxide or water.