Effect of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Exposure on the Triboelectric Charging of Granular Plastics

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to study the feasibility of continuous dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) treatment of granular plastic materials in view of improving their triboelectric charging ability. The effects of the following DBD parameters were studied: the amplitude and the frequency of the applied high voltage, the thickness of the dielectric barrier, the distance between the electrodes of the reactor as well as the speed of the conveyor that was used for the transfer of the granular materials though the non-thermal plasma zone. The study was carried out on mm-size Polyethylene particles. It was found that the charge of DBD treated particles increases with the applied high voltage and decrease with the speed of the conveyor. Both the distance between the electrodes and the thickness of the dielectric barrier have a remarkable effect on the charge acquired after DBD treatment. Within the experimental domain of this study, the frequency of the high voltage does not significantly affect the efficiency of the tribocharging process.