Removal Characteristics of Gaseous Sulfur-Containing Compounds by Pulsed Corona Plasma

Abstract

Pulsed corona plasma was employed to treat the gases containing hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan (MM), and dimethyl sulfide (DMS), respectively. For the plasma oxidation only, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide, MM, and DMS were approximated to be 90%, 69%, and 52% when the discharge power was 5.6 W. But all the removal efficiencies were over 98% when an activated carbon fiber (ACF) filter was used downstream from the plasma reactor. In addition, the decomposition reaction mechanism was discussed and a competitive reaction kinetics model was proposed to describe the plasma decomposition reaction kinetics. The ACF filter appeared to be co-beneficial in the improvement of removal efficiency, reduction of energy consumption, and the abatement of ozone or other byproducts. The energy consumption was about 3 W·h/m3 for hydrogen sulfide to obtain about 90% of the removal efficiency by plasma oxidation only, but it can be reduced below 1.2 W·h/m3 in the present of the ACF filter.