Removal of dilute benzene using zeolite-hybrid plasma reactor

The decomposition of benzene was carried out using a plasma reactor packed with a mixture of BaTiO/sub 3/ and zeolite pellets, the zeolite-hybrid reactor. The reactor performance was characterized by measuring CO/sub x/ formed during plasma discharge and CO/sub x/ adsorbed on the solid surface. The decomposition efficiency of benzene in the hybrid reactor was 1.4 to 2.1 times higher than that in a conventional plasma reactor packed with BaTiO/sub 3/ alone. Benzene existing outside a zeolite crystalline pore was found to decompose more easily than that inside a zeolite pore. In addition, the presence of zeolites suppressed the formation of NO/sub x/.