E. coli Disinfection Using a Multi Plasma Reactor

Objectives: For the practical application of the dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor, a plasma reactor able to manage large volumes of water is needed. This study investigated the possibility of the practical application of a multi-plasma reactor which is a scaled-up version of a single plasma reactor. Methods: The multi-plasma reactor consists of several high-voltage transformers and plasma modules (discharge, ground electrodes and quartz dielectric tubes). The effects of water characteristics such as voltage (30-120 V), air flow rate (1-5 l/min), number of high-voltage transformers and plasma modules, and water quality on Escherichia coli (E. coli) disinfection and decrease of COD and $UV_{254}$ absorbance were investigated. Results: The experimental results showed that at a voltage of over 80 V, most of the E. coli were disinfected within 90 seconds. E. coli inactivation was not affected by the air flow rate. E. coli disinfection in the multiplasma process showed the traditional log-linear form of the disinfection curve. E. coli inactivation performance by transformer 3-Reactor 5 and transformer 3-Reactor 3 were similar. The disinfection performance of the UV process was affected by artificial sewage water. However, the plasma process was less affected by the artificial sewage within the standards for effluent water quality. Conclusions: Disinfection performance with several low voltages and plasma modules of three to five in number applied to the plasma process was higher than that concentrating a small amount of high voltage through a single plasma reactor. Removal of COD, $UV_{254}$ absorbance, and E. coli disinfection with the plasma process were better than with the UV process.

멀티 플라즈마 반응기를 이용한 E. coli 소독