• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.327-327
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• 2011

A nonthermal bioplasma source was developed for application to human liquid fluids by making use of nano-size tungsten tips. Characteristics of the plasma source are investigated. Here we have used the AC voltage system. The bioplasma source generated by a tungsten tip with quartz tube and ground electrode is a low-temperature plasma without making any noticeable damage to cells at a low power operation. The breakdown voltage and current signals are measured by high voltage probe (Tektronix P6015A) and current probe (P6021). Variation of breakdown temperature near the tip electrode is larger than that in the neighborhood of ground electrode. Bubble formation during discharge has been recorded and investigated by using the high speed camera. The existence and behavior of hydroxyl and superoxide radicals are detected and measured by spectrometers. The electrical and optical properties of breakdown characteristics are also investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.292-300
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• 2006

In order to improve energy efficiency in the dilute trichloroethylene removal using the nonthermal plasma process, the barrier discharge treatment combined with manganese dioxide was experimentally studied. Reaction kinetics in this process was studied on the basis of final byproducts distribution. Decomposition efficiency was improved to about $99\;\%$ at the specific energy of 40 J/L with passing through manganese dioxide. C=C ${\pi}$ bond cleavage of TCE substances gave DCAC, which has the single bond of C-C through oxidation reaction during the barrier discharge plasma treatment. Those DCAC were broken easily in the subsequent catalytic reaction due to the weak bonding energy about $3{\sim}4\;eV$ compared with the double bonding energy in TCE molecules. Oxidation byproducts of DCAC and TCAA from TCE decomposition are generated from the barrier discharge plasma treatment and catalytic surface chemical reaction, respectively. Complete oxidation of TCE into COx is required to about 400 J/L, but $CO_2$ selectivity remains about $60\;\%$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.552-553
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• 2005

In order to improve energy efficiency in the dilute trichloroethylene removal using the nonthermal plasma process, the barrier discharge treatment combined with manganese dioxide was experimentally studied. Reaction kinetics in this process was studied on the basis of final byproducts distribution. Decomposition efficiency was improved to about 99% at the specific energy 40J/L with passing through manganese dioxide. C=C $\pi$ bond cleavage in TCE gave DCAC (single bond, C-C) through oxidation reaction during the barrier discharge plasma treatment. Those DCAC were broken easily in the subsequent catalytic reaction due to the weak bonding energy about 3 ~ 4 eV compared with the double bonding energy in TCE molecules. Oxidation byproducts of DCAC and TCAA from TCE decomposition are generated from the barrier discharge plasma treatment and catalytic surface chemical reaction, respectively. Complete oxidation of TCE into $CO_X$ is required to about 400J/L.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.386-391
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• 2014

Atmospheric-pressure nonthermal corona discharge plasma was applied to the sterilization of biologically contaminated scoria powder. Escherichia coli (E. coli) culture solution was uniformly sprayed throughout the scoria powder for artificial inoculation, which was well mixed to ensure uniformity of the batch. The effect of the key parameters such as discharge power, treatment time, type of gas and electrode distance on the sterilization efficiency was examined and discussed. The experimental results revealed that the plasma treatment was very effective for the sterilization of scoria powder; 5-min treatment at 15 W could sterilize more than 99.9% of E. coli inoculated into the scoria powder. Increasing the discharge power, treatment time or applied voltage led to an improvement in the sterilization efficiency. The effect of type of gas on the sterilization efficiency was in order of oxygen, synthetic air (20% oxygen) and nitrogen from high to low. The inactivation of E. coli under the influence of corona discharge plasma can be explained by cell membrane erosion or etching resulting from UV and reactive oxidizing species (oxygen radical, OH radical, ozone, etc.), and the destruction of E. coli cell membrane by the physical action of numerous corona streamers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.547-554
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• 2002

We are facing the serious environmental pollution difficulties such as acid rain, green house effects, etc. The gaseous matter NOx, SOx, VOCs which are regarded as main factors for these current pollutions are mainly emitted from power plants and vehicles. Therefore several leading countries are regulating the emissions strictly, especially the exhaust emissions from a Diesel engine without an aftertreatment device. The objective of this study is to find out soot and NO removal characteristics focused on the emissions of a Diesel engine by using nonthermal plasma for each engine speeds and loads. Electrostatic precipitator(wire-to-plate type reactor) is used for soot removal. Radicals generated from outer air and put into a mixing chamber in the end of exhaust line are used for NO removal. Concentration of exhaust emissions is analyzed from the gas analyzer(KaneMay) and FTIR to estimate by-products.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.1574-1575
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• 2011

The application of a pulsed power system is being extended to an environmental and industrial field. The non-destructive gaseous pollutants from industrial plants such as power generation plants and incinerators can be processed by applying high voltage pulses with a fast rising time (a few nanoseconds) and short duration (nano to microseconds) in a pulsed corona discharge reactor. The pulsed plasma generator with a triggered switch has been developed. Its corona current in load can be adjusted by applied voltage and repetition rate. We investigated the performance of the pulsed plasma generator by analyzing the concentration of ozone in small reactor. This paper describes the electrical characteristics of the pulse generator with a voltage of 30 kV at repetition rate of 50 PPS. In addition, we briefly discuss a configuration of the system and initial test results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.78-83
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• 1999

This work is the experimental study for NO and NOx removal by utilizing non-thermal plasma. To apply to moving pollution source such as diesel automobile, we suggested the metal packed-helical wire reactor(MPHW) and measured properties of MPHW by varying the peak voltage, frequency, NOx concentration and flow rate for simulated NOx gas balanced with $N_2$. And then we compared these results with the results of cylinder-wire(CW) which was one of popularly used reactor in nonthermal plasma applications. The results of MPHW show fairly good NO and NOx removal rate compare with CW around above 20%. However. the power consumption of MPHW is larger than that of CW as much as around 2.5Watt in all range.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.673-678
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• 2000

The dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) is a common method to create a nonthermal plasma in which electrical energy is used to create electrons with a high average kinetic energy. The unique aspect of dielectric barrier discharges is the large array of short lifetime(10ns) silent discharges created over the surface of the dielectric. A silent discharge is generated when the applied voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage of the carrier gas creating a conduction path between the applied electrode and grounded electrode. As charge accumulates on the dielectric, the electric field is reduced below the breakdown field of the carrier gas and the silent discharge self terminates preventing the DBD cell from producing a thermal arc. In fact, the most significant application of dielectric barrier discharges is to generate ozone for contaminated water treatment. Therefore, experiments were perfomed at 1∼2[bar] pressure using a coaxial geometry single dielectric barrier discharge for ozone concentrations and energy densities. The main result show that the concentration and efficiency of ozone are influenced by gas nature, gas quantity, gas pressure, supplied voltage and frequency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 1999

We constructed a wire-cylinder type pulsed corona discharge system for $NO_x$ removal, which was operated in room temperature. A emission spectrometer was built with a boxcar averager and monochrometer equipped with photo-multiplier tube detector. The sensitivity of the emission spectrometer was greatly improved by synchronizing the emission spectrometer with pulsed corona discharge system using a triggered spark-gap switch. $N_2$ spectrum($c^3{\Pi}_u{\rightarrow}X^1{\Sigma}_g{^+}$) was measured in the range of 300 - 450 nm and oxidizing OH radical emission($A^2{\Sigma}^+{\rightarrow}X^2{\Pi}$) was measured in case $N_2$ was supplied with water bubbling. As wet gas composition of inlet $N_2$ supplied in the discharge system increased, the intensity of OH emission was increased and saturated at wet gas composition 50%. We also investigated additive effect of $C_2H_4,\;H_2O,\;H_2O_2$ on the intensity of OR emission and $NO/NO_2/NO_x$ reduction and analysed the related reaction mechanism in corona discharge process. $H_2O_2$ additive increased the intensity of OH emission and $NO/NO_x$ reduction.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 2013

Nonthermal plasma hybridized with photocatalysts is proven to be an effective tool to degrade toxic organics in wastewater. In this study, a specially designed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma system combined with photocatalysts was applied to decompose pestiticides such as dichlorovos, carbofuran and methidathon, which are frequently used in the golf courses and the orange plantations. The degradations of the pesticides in single and coupled systems were evaluated. The single system was used with ozone plasma which consisted of electrons, radicals, ions produced by oxygen gas and air, with and without ultra-violet (UV) irradiation, respectively. The coupled systems utilized the air-derived ozone plasma combined with zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and graphite oxide photocatalyst activated by UV. The graphite oxide was synthesized by a modified Hummer's method and characterized using FTIR spectrometer. It was elucidated that the plasma reaction with graphite oxide (0.01 g/L) brought about almost 100% of degradation degrees for dichlorovos and carbofuran in 60 min, as compared with the performances showed by no catalyst condition. The photocatalyst-hybridized plasma in the presence of UV irradiation was proven to be an effective alternative for degrading pesticides.