Abstract

A series of experiments using atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma coupled with transition metal catalysts were performed to remove ethylene from agricultural storage facilities. The non-thermal plasma was created by dielectric barrier discharge, which was in direct contact with the catalyst pellets. The transition metals such as Ag and V2O5 were supported on γ-Al2O3. The effect of catalyst type, specific input energy (SIE) and oxygen content on the removal of ethylene was examined to understand the behavior of the hybrid plasma-catalytic reactor system. With the other parameters kept constant, the plasma-catalytic activity for the removal of ethylene was in order of V2O5/γ-Al2O3¤Ag/γ-Al2O3¤γ-Al2O3 from high to low. Interestingly, the rate of plasma-catalytic ozone generation was in order of V2O5/γ-Al2O3¤γ-Al2O3¤Ag/γ-Al2O3, implying that the catalyst activation mechanisms by plasma are different for different catalysts. The results obtained by varying the oxygen content indicated that nitrogen-derived reactive species dominated the removal of ethylene under oxygen-lean condition, while ozone and oxygen atoms were mainly involved in the removal under oxygen-rich condition. When the plasma was coupled with V2O5/γ-Al2O3, nearly complete removal of ethylene was achieved at oxygen contents higher than 5% by volume (inlet ethylene: 250 ppm; gas flow rate: 1.0 L min; SIE: ~355 J L).

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