Decomposition of three volatile organic compounds by nanosecond pulsed corona discharge: Study of by-product formation and influence of high voltage pulse parameters

Increasing concerns over atmospheric pollution has motivated research into technologies able to remove volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) from gas streams. The aim of this paper is to understand the chemical and physical mechanisms implied in the decomposition of VOC’s in a filamentary nonthermal plasma discharge. Experiments have been carried out on three pollutants (propane, propene, and isopropyl alcohol) in dry air at atmospheric pressure using a wire to cylinder corona discharge generated by a homemade nanosecond rise time high voltage pulse generator. The resulting plasma efficiently destructs propane, propene, or isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of 500 ppm with low specific input energies (less than 500 J/L), but the poor oxidation rate leads to the formation of numerous by-products (acetone, formaldehyde, formic acid, and methyl nitrate) whose concentration can reach some hundreds of ppm. We also investigated the effect of pulse parameters on VOC removal efficiency. Neither pulse peak value nor rise time (in the range of 4–12 ns) appears to have a significant influence on the VOC decomposition rates. Therefore, we believe that the way the energy is deposited in the plasma does not modify the density of active species (radicals, ions) in the streamers. The production of energetic electrons is not enhanced by the external applied field, and the only effective parameter may be the local field in the streamer head, which is almost the same (around 500 Td) whatever the voltage (above the inception value).