Corona discharge under supercritical conditions

Abstract

Summary form only given. Generation of non-thermal discharge in supercritical fluid environment is considered difficult due to high pressures and temperatures of the critical points of the fluids. This arises form Paschen's law that suggests that increasing the process pressure leads to increase in the voltage required for plasma generation and, therefore, to enhanced operational cost. We have studied generation of corona discharge under supercritical fluid conditions near the critical point. The required voltage for this process is three times lower than the Paschen's law prediction due to extensive cluster formation under the investigated conditions. However, there is a need of further investigation of the dependence of the breakdown voltage on the temperature and pressure of the supercritical fluid, so that this new process-generation of plasma under supercritical fluid conditions can be used for material science and pollutant removal applications. This promising new technology offers combination of the advantages of supercritical fluids as a unique reaction media due to its heterogeneous chemistry, enhanced heat and mass transfer with the benefits of the high energetic plasma state that is characterized with fast chemical reactions and high selectivity.