Design of a novel non-equilibrium plasma-based water treatment reactor

Abstract

A novel non-equilibrium plasma-based water treatment reactor consisting of high voltage multi-needle electrode submerged in aqueous phase and reticulated ground electrode suspended in gas phase above water was developed and applied to treat low concentrations of methyl orange (MO). The electrode configuration was optimized. Higher number and more uniform distribution of streamers were produced in gas phase when parallel five-needle configuration with needle spacing of 10 mm for high voltage electrode, macroporous ground electrode with mesh size of 0.42 mm, and electrode gap of 17 mm were adopted. This case corresponds to the largest amount of hydrogen peroxide and ozone produced in aqueous phase and gas phase, respectively, and air flow rate presents an economical value. The injection of wastewater above ground electrode for pretreatment and the design of fixed mesh barriers further increase the amount of ozone dissolved in aqueous solution. The conversion of MO presents a positive correlation with input voltage and the increase of pulse repetition rate is conducive for the conversion. In addition, the effect of initial solution concentration and treating volume on the conversion, energy yield and COD removal was evaluated.