Study On The Decomposition Of VOCs Using Gliding Arc Discharge Combined With Catalysis

Gliding arc gas discharge has a dual character of thermal and non-thermal plasma. It is the subject of renewed interest which discharged in normal temperature and pressure. This easy device has the potential to decompose Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) effectively. However, previous researches indicated some drawbacks such as high energy consumption and low decomposition rate especially when some complicated VOCs are treated.On the basis of above mentioned, an innovative gliding arc discharge plasma catalysis reactor is designed and further optimized in this paper. Hexane and benzene are chosen as the typical target VOCs, After the comparison of four style catalysts, alveolate AI₂O₃ and Pt/Pb are finally chosen as the catalysts, with which the influences of some parameters on VOCs decomposition are investigated, such as the initial concentration, the element of catalyst, the flow rate, the oxygen concentration and humidity, etc.Experiment results indicate that, the combination of gliding arc discharge and catalyst is an effective way for VOCs decomposition, which is better than using gliding arc discharge only. The decomposition efficiency of using alveolate catalysts is found to be better than that of pellet catalysts. The highest decomposition efficiency of VOCs with the lowest energy consumption can be achieved when alveolate AI₂O₃ is packed in as the catalyst.It was found that VOCs decomposition rate reduced with the increases of VOCs initial concentration and gas flow rate, no matter which style of the catalyst is used. However, the absolute decomposition capacity increases simultaneity.The increases of oxygen concentration and humidity in the background suppress the decomposition of VOCs. The existence of oxygen and water will increase the amount of reactive radicals (O, OH and O₃ mainly), but lead the reduction of electrons and the decrease of the energy to the plasma region. The research of theinfluence of humidity on the decomposition by-product selectivity is also carried out in current work.