Improving the pollutant removal efficiency of packed-bed plasma reactors incorporating ferroelectric components

In this work we have studied the plasma removal of air contaminants such as methane, chloroform, toluene and acetone in two parallel plate packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactors of different sizes. Removal and energy efficiencies have been determined as a function of the residence ti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez-Ramírez, Ana, Montoro-Damas, Antonio M., Rodríguez Barbero, Miguel Ángel, González-Elipe, Agustín R., Cotrino, José
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/191476
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/191476
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Pollutant removal
Dielectric barrier discharge
VOC’s removal
Packed-bed plasma reactor
Plasma decontamination
Ferroelectric materials
Descripción
Sumario:In this work we have studied the plasma removal of air contaminants such as methane, chloroform, toluene and acetone in two parallel plate packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactors of different sizes. Removal and energy efficiencies have been determined as a function of the residence time of the contaminated air within the reactor, the kind of packed-bed material (ferroelectrics or classical dielectric materials), the frequency and the incorporation of a ferroelectric plate onto the active electrode together with the inter-electrode ferroelectric pellets filling the gap. Results at low frequency with the small reactor and the ferroelectric plate showed an enhancement in energy efficiency (e.g., it was multiplied by a factor of six and three for toluene and chloroform, respectively) and in removal yield (e.g., it increased from 22% to 52% for chloroform and from 15% to 21% for methane). Such enhancements have been attributed to the higher energy of plasma electrons and a lower reactor capacitance found for this plate-modified configuration. A careful analysis of reaction efficiencies and electron energy distributions for the different investigated conditions and the simulation of the electric field at the necks between ferroelectric/dielectric pellets complete the present study. Overall, the obtained results prove the critical role of the barrier architecture and operating conditions for an enhanced performance of pollution removal processes using DBD systems.