Effect of multiple pulses on the plasma chemistry during theremediation of NOx using dielectric barrier discharges

Abstract

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) are being investigated toremediate NOx from atmospheric gas streams. The interaction of speciesgenerated during previous pulses of repetitively pulsed devices, such as DBDs,make their operation fundamentally different from single pulse operation. Toinvestigate these effects, the reaction chemistry of multiple pulses duringNOx remediation was modelled. Reactions between radicals produced during apulse with the products from previous pulses produce significantly differentend products. For example, approximately 10 ppm of methyl nitrate(CH3ONO2) was obtained by multiple pulsing whereas less than 1 ppm of itwas produced with single discharge formats. Multiple pulsing has also beenfound to be more efficient for NOx remediation. W-values for NOxremediation decreased from 240 eV for a single pulse (58 J l-1) to 185 eVwhen the same energy was distributed over 20 pulses.3Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.