Modeling the operational conditions of nonthermal plasma decomposition of airborne VOCs

Abstract

Due to the high discrepancies in the experimental conditions of non-thermal plasma (NTP) treatments of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), historical data design and response surface methodology (RSM) were used to model the influence of common and limiting factors (i.e., flow rate, input voltage, molecular weight of VOC, and the reactor volume) on the system efficiency of NTPs. Experimental data were harnessed from major scholarly papers on the subject in this millennium. Through analysis of variance, flow rate and input voltage sufficed as the most and least significant process factors, respectively. Because toluene is the most studied VOC, a model for NTP-toluene was derived. The final R2 (and adjusted R2) values of the NTP-VOC and NTP-toluene models were 0.9998 (0.9987) and 0.9758 (0.9447), respectively. Cubic and quadratic models were, respectively, the most suitable model for TVOC and toluene. Despite the wide gap in years of data and the extremely varied conditions in the NTP degradation of the various VOCs, the modeling tools performed excellently well, especially with TVOC. Thence, the NTP-TVOC and NTP-toluene models are recommended with a minimum confidence limit of 95%, provided the data bands are not exceeded. Future research should ensure that the actual (not predetermined) contact time and the spatial velocity of each VOC's feed flow are reported to aid more detailed and reliable modeling of the NTP-VOC systems.