Non-equilibrium gliding arc and corona discharges for abatement of volatile organic compounds

A linear stability analysis of the low-current gliding arc discharge in the transitional regime was performed to explain the observed removal rates of volatile organic compounds. It was shown that the gliding arc remains stable during the evolution and gradually transforms into a more non-equilibrium one. The low-current arc discharge can propagate with the effect of “overshooting” at which the gliding arc extinguishes long after its maximum power has been achieved. Analytical and numerical solutions explain the general behavior of the low-current gliding arc and are in a good agreement with our experiment.; A semi-empirical approach to predict the destruction efficiency of volatile organic compounds in a pulsed corona discharge was developed. The mechanism of formation of nitrogen oxides is used to calculate the actual fraction of the corona discharge power that is consumed in production of active radicals. The yield of active species was evaluated with the help of radiation chemistry data. The detailed mechanism of methanol and dimethyl sulfide oxidation from the atmospheric chemistry was applied to a corona discharge. It allowed to accurately predict the removal rates of the compounds at different temperatures and humidity. A Projected Energy Cost method was proposed to generalize the experimental data. It was found that the minimum power consumption exists at 2% of absolute humidity and maximum power consumption is observed at 130°C. These results are used to improve the efficiency of the mobile pulsed-corona pilot plant that is designed for the corona technology demonstration.