This thesis deals with the design of the equipment and documentation for the design of equipment for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and carbon monoxide (CO) by catalytic oxidation and the selection of appropriate technological conditions for this technology. Introduction is devoted to familiarization with the field of the catalytic oxidation, used catalysts, catalyst supports and their active components. Advantages and disadvantages of the use of catalytic oxidation versus thermal incineration are outlined and currently applicable legislative terms for VOC and CO emissions are listed. In the next part of the thesis the fundamental mathematical tools and research findings available for catalytic reactor model designed primarily for monolithic catalysts are summarized. Presented kinetic model considers continuous reactor with plug flow of gas and adiabatic heating by oxidation reactions corrected for the heat loss of the reactor. The next chapter discusses the design of the new prototype of the catalytic oxidation pilot plant (i.e. the reactor incl. peripherals) primarily intended for monolithic catalysts and bulk catalysts in the form of the fixed bed. The basis for the design and sizing are material and energy balances in the ChemCAD for different intended use of the unit, from which boundary conditions of the unit operating parameters arises. Pilot plant has been designed and built, functionality tests was scheduled also with consecutive obtaining of experimental data not only for the reactor kinetic model. Results of the model for the catalytic combustion were in good agreement with measured data. The next part includes two industrial case studies of the catalytic oxidation process usage for the chemical industry. In particular it was dealt with a replacement of the non-catalytic combustion for the catalytic for VOC abatement from chemical production plants off-gas streams of the company Momentive Specialty Chemicals in Sokolov and German city Leuna. These case studies have brought many valuable experimental and technological knowledge from long-term pilot tests and also verification of design concept, thanks to which it was later possible to design a pilot unit for removal of pollutants in premises of NETME Centre and among other to economically evaluate the usage of catalytic oxidation for the off gas cleaning, in comparison with traditional combustion, in two completely different individual cases. This information was valuable and necessary for the verification of theoretical assumptions of the thesis on specific conditions of two different industrial productions. Based on acquired practical experience and theoretical background, guidelines for designing of devices for VOC and CO removal in the industry were developed.

The thesis discusses possible ways to reduce or completely eliminate pesticide compounds from drinking water that are produced at a water treatment plant Hrdibořice. The work is divided into theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part lists kinds of pesticides that occur in water, how they are reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, this section describes the existing water treatment technologies at the Central Committee Hrdibořice, including water sources. In the practical part, pilot tests on two types of filters models with filtering bed of granular activated carbon (hereinafter GAU) were carried out. On the basis of information obtained from the literature and on findings from the pilot tests, designs of technological equipment for pesticide removal from drinking water at water treatment Hrdiborice were carried out. Next, cost estimates for the proposed variant solutions including operating costs were suggested.

The thesis deals with the use of dissolved air flotation (DAF) in water treatment technology in the Czech Republic. It summarizes the knowledge gained at pilot plant studies as well as the experience with full-scale flotation units which have been built in potable water treatment plants in the Czech Republic in years 2006-2018. This thesis provides a broad background of experimental studies of a modern separation process, which does have great advantages in the removal of natural organic matter and microorganisms from water in the drinking water treatment industry. In this thesis, there are presented some examples of the excellent efficiency of the microorganisms removal, both under the experimental conditions as well as water treatment plants, which were improved by DAF units installation in full scale. In addition to the high separation efficiency, it is shown, how DAF units could influence the subsequent separation steps as for example filtration through the granular media. The negative influence of the pre-ozonization on the DAF separation efficiency in Hradec Králové WTP is demonstrated too. The results of the pilot experiments support the idea, that the key condition for high removal efficiency is the optimal coagulation process chemistry. Design of pilot experiments was based on the factorial planning theory and some results are discussed in this thesis. The very big portion of the pilot experiments was made for estimating of the full-scale DAF design parameters before the water treatment plants reconstruction phase