Decomposition of dichloromethane and in situ alkali absorption of resulting halogenated products by a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor

Abstract

For an effective decomposition and removal of organic halogenated compounds, a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor with in situ absorption of the resulting halogenated products by alkaline sorbent incorporated was proposed. In the plasma reactor, α-Al2O3 particles of 1 and 3 mm (mean particle diameter) were packed as solid dielectric medium to enhance the plasma power density in the reactor. Further, alkaline sorbent of Ca(OH)2 was doped onto the surface of α-Al2O3 particles, in order to remove halogenated products by in situ absorption with Ca(OH)2. A high-voltage and high-frequency pulsed power of −15 to 15 kV and 1 kHz was applied to the wire electrode of the plasma reactor by means of a DC power source. In the present study, as the sample of an organic halogenated compound that is most popularly used, we selected dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), and 500 ppm of the initial concentration of CH2Cl2 was fed into the reactor accompanied by air at a fixed flow rate of 500 × 10−6 m3 min−1 at room temperature. As a result, it was recognized that the amount of CH2Cl2 decomposed by non-thermal plasma in an α-Al2O3 particle bed increased with an increase in plasma input power. The ratio of decomposition of CH2Cl2 was almost 100% at 13 kV of electric power and 1 kHz frequency, and CO2, CH3Cl, COCl2, HCl, and Cl2 were observed as the major reaction products. On the other hand, when CH2Cl2 was introduced into the plasma reactor where α-Al2O3 particles doped with Ca(OH)2 were packed, the ratio of decomposition of CH2Cl2 became higher, compared to the case that α-Al2O3 particles were not doped with Ca(OH)2. Moreover, there were no halogenated by-product gases detected in the outlet gas from the reactor. As the solid reaction products, CaClOH and Ca(ClO)2·4H2O were detected on Ca(OH)2 by X-ray diffraction. From these findings, it was recognized that CH2Cl2 was decomposed more effectively without producing unwanted harmful halogenated by-products in the proposed non-thermal plasma reactor where α-Al2O3 particles doped with Ca(OH)2 sorbent were packed.