Multi-electrode electrohydraulic discharge for sterilization and disinfection

Electrohydraulic discharge (EHD) can generate localized plasma emitting high intensity ultraviolet, and generating shock wave and active species. It is a multiple mode-of-action approach of sterilization and disinfection. Based on a homemade experimental setup, including all solid-switch capacitive pulsed power source and multi-electrode EHD reactor, we experimentally investigate the mechanism of EHD for chlorella inactivation. Typical energy range of the pulse power source is 5-500 J with a repetition rate of 1-10 Hz. Mono-current pulse wave is applied on the EHD reactor. We also design a multiple electrode configuration to increase the chlorella inactivation efficiency of over 90%. Besides, a monochromator combined with PMT and a high speed CCD camera system are used to detect the ultraviolet emission and pulsed plasma induced bubble growth process, respectively. After discharging, the concentration of chlorophyll measured by UV-visible spectrophotometer rises, which is caused by the broken up of chlorella cell.