Abstract
An experimental study has been performed to characterize fundamental aspects of VOCs removal using non-thermal palsma technique. The removed VOCs in the present study are toluene ($C_6H_5CH_3$), ethene ($C_2H_4$), propene ($C_3H_6$) which are typical air pollutants generated from industry and automobile engines. The non-thermal plasma used in the present experiments has been produced in a wire-cylinder reactor with pulsed corona or a packed-bed reactor filled with ceramic bead. These differently generated non-thermal plasma have been visualized with an intensified CCD. The images of non-thermal plasma have been used for optimal design of a corona reactor used in the present study. The experimental results show that the removal efficiencies of VOCs with non-thermal plasma are dependant on the reactivity of VOCs with OH, O, and $O_3$. The results also show that the removal efficiencies of VOCs decrease significantly when VOCs are treated with NO that is also oxidized in the presence of OH, O, and $O_3$.
