Improved performance of parallel surface/packed-bed discharge reactor for indoor VOCs decomposition: optimization of the reactor structure

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop a high-efficiency air-cleaning system for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) existing in the workshop of a chemical factory. A novel parallel surface/packed-bed discharge (PSPBD) reactor, which utilized a combination of surface discharge (SD) plasma with packed-bed discharge (PBD) plasma, was designed and employed for VOCs removal in a closed vessel. In order to optimize the structure of the PSPBD reactor, the discharge characteristic, benzene removal efficiency, and energy yield were compared for different discharge lengths, quartz tube diameters, shapes of external high-voltage electrode, packed-bed discharge gaps, and packing pellet sizes, respectively. In the circulation test, 52.8% of benzene was removed and the energy yield achieved 0.79 mg kJ−1 after a 210 min discharge treatment in the PSPBD reactor, which was 10.3% and 0.18 mg kJ−1 higher, respectively, than in the SD reactor, 21.8% and 0.34 mg kJ−1 higher, respectively, than in the PBD reactor at 53 J l−1. The improved performance in benzene removal and energy yield can be attributed to the plasma chemistry effect of the sequential processing in the PSPBD reactor. The VOCs mineralization and organic intermediates generated during discharge treatment were followed by COx selectivity and FT-IR analyses. The experimental results indicate that the PSPBD plasma process is an effective and energy-efficient approach for VOCs removal in an indoor environment.