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.