Abstract
This contribution attempts to establish an easy-to-apply non-thermal plasma reactor for efficient toluene removal. Derived from the already established knowledge of the so called Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Stack Reactor a new model reactor was used in this work. The DBD Stack Reactor is a multi-elements reactor but in this work only one stack element was used to investigate the efficiency and efficacy of toluene removal. In case of reliable results the scalability process for industrial application is already well known. Therefore, laboratory experiments were conducted in dry and wet synthetic air with an admixture of 50 ppm toluene. Along with the toluene removal process the electrical behaviour of the discharge configuration was investigated. It was found that the electrical capacitance of the dielectric barrier changes with variations of the operating voltage. This could be due to the changes in the area of the dielectric barrier which is covered with plasma. Additionally, it was found that the power input into the plasma, at a fixed operating voltage, is proportional to the frequency, which is in agreement with the literature.
Regarding the decomposition process, the total removal of toluene was achieved at specific input energy densities of 55 J L-1 under dry conditions and 110 J L-1 under wet conditions. The toluene removal was accompanied by the production of nitric acid (dry conditions) and formic acid (wet conditions). The latter suggested a combination of the plasma reactor with a water scrubber as an approach for total removal of pollutant molecules.
Graphical Abstract
References
[1] Urashima K., Chang J.-S., Removal of volatile organic compounds from air streams and industrial flue gases by non-thermal plasma technology, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., 2000, 7, 602-614 10.1109/94.879356Search in Google Scholar
[2] Isbell M.A., Soltzberg R.J., Duffy L.K., Indoor climate in interior Alaska: simultaneous measurement of ventilation, benzene and toluene in residential indoor air of two homes, Sci. Tot. Environ., 2005, 345, 31-40 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.11.016Search in Google Scholar PubMed
[3] Hunter P., Oyama S.T., Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions: Conventional and Emerging Technologies, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2000 Search in Google Scholar
[4] Barbour A.K., Burdett N.A., Cairns J., Derwent R., In: Hester R.E., Harrison R.M., (Eds.), Issues in Environmental Science and Technology Book 4, The Royal Society of Chemistry, London, 1995 Search in Google Scholar
[5] Malhautier L., Khammar N., Bayle S., Fanlo J.L., Biofiltration of volatile organic compounds, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2005, 68, 16-22 10.1007/s00253-005-1960-zSearch in Google Scholar PubMed
[6] Van Veldhuizen E.M., Electrical discharges for Environmental Purposes: Fundamentals and Applications, Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2000 Search in Google Scholar
[7] Penetrante B.M., Nonthermal Plasma Techniques for Air Pollution Control, Springer Verlag, New York, 1993 10.1007/978-3-642-78476-7Search in Google Scholar
[8] Kim H.-H., Nonthermal Plasma Processing for Air-Pollution Control: A Historical Review, Current Issues, and Future Prospects, Plasma Process. Polym., 2004, 1, 91-110 10.1002/ppap.200400028Search in Google Scholar
[9] Vandenbroucke A.M., Morent R., De Geyter N., Leys C., Non-thermal plasmas for non-catalytic and catalytic VOC abatement, J. Hazard. Mater., 2011, 195, 30-54 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.08.060Search in Google Scholar PubMed
[10] Kogelschatz U., Collective phenomena in volume and surface barrier discharges, Plasma Chem Plasma Process, 2003, 23, 1-46 10.1023/A:1022470901385Search in Google Scholar
[11] Atkinson R., Gas-Phase Degradation of organic compounds in the troposphere, Pure & Appl. Chem., 1998, 70, 1327-1334 10.1351/pac199870071327Search in Google Scholar
[12] Schiorlin M., Marotta E., Rea M., Paradisi C., Comparison of Toluene Removal in Air at Atmospheric Conditions by Different Corona Discharges, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2009, 43, 9386-9392 10.1021/es9021816Search in Google Scholar PubMed
[13] Vandenbroucke A.M., Morent R., De Geyter N., Leys C., Decomposition of toluene with - Search in Google Scholar
[14] Müller S., Zahn R.-J., Air Pollution Control by Non-Thermal Plasma, Contrib. Plasma Phys., 2007, 47, 520-529 10.1002/ctpp.200710067Search in Google Scholar
[15] Manley T.C., The Electric Characteristics of the Ozonator Discharge, Trans. Electrochem. Soc., 1943, 84, 83-96 10.1149/1.3071556Search in Google Scholar
[16] Kosch J., Total Hydrocarbon Analysis Using Flame Ionization Detector, In: Down R.D., Lehr J.H., (Eds.), Environmental Instrumentation and Analysis Handbook, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2005 10.1002/0471473332.ch7Search in Google Scholar
[17] NIST Chemical kinetics database, online available under: http://kinetics.nist.gov/kinetics/index.jsp Search in Google Scholar
© 2015 Michael Schmidt et al.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.