Plug Flow Modeling of Particle Formation and Growth Combined with Plasma Chemistry in NO x Removal by a Pulsed Corona Discharge Process

Abstract

We analyzed the plasma chemistry, particle formation, and growth in the pulsed corona discharge process (PCDP) to remove NO x and investigated the effects of several process variables (initial concentrations of NO, NH 3 , and H 2 O and electron concentration). In the PCDP, most of NO is converted into NO 2 and, later, HNO 3 , which reacts with NH 3 to form NH 4 NO 3 particles. As the initial NO concentration increases or as the initial H 2 O concentration and the electron concentration decrease, it takes longer reactor lengths to remove the NO x . With the increase of initial NO concentration, more NH 3 is consumed to remove the NO supplied initially and NH 3 disappears more quickly in the PCDP. In the beginning of the reactor, the particle concentration and the standard deviation of particle size distribution increase quickly because of fast particle formation from the NO supplied initially. The particle concentration and the standard deviation decrease in the PCDP, where the NO initially supplied is all...