Increasing the efficiency of deep photocatalytic oxidation of organic vapors under the action of negative atmospheric corona discharge

Abstract

The influence of atmospheric corona discharge on the photocatalytic oxidation of acetone (83 ppm), acetaldehyde (108 ppm), and toluene (12–46 ppm) vapors on TiO2 under the action of soft UV light in a closed chamber has been studied. Corona discharge was created around the wire of the charging unit of an electric filter at the inlet of a photocatalytic reactor. The rate of the removal and deep oxidation of substances to CO2 increased considerably and reached maximum for acetaldehyde. The concentrations of inter-mediates in the course of experiments did not exceed 1 ppm. In the presence of corona discharge, the rate of deep oxidation per unit of consumed electric power increased by a factor of 1.2–3.6. The results show that combined photocatalytic and plasmochemical oxidation is promising for the purification of released gases.