Interconversion of chlorofluorocarbons in plasmas

Abstract

Chlorofluorocarbons undergo interconversion during destruction in an argon arc plasma, so that, for example, in the exhaust gas from destruction of CCl2F2, CClF3 is found to be the major residual ozone depleting substance: as electron capture detectors are 104 times less sensitive for CClF3, compared with CCl2F2, although these gases have the same ozone depleting potential, analysis of exhaust from destruction of chlorofluorocarbons is therefore not a trivial matter of determining only the level of input chlorofluorocarbon remaining.