Atmospheric pressure discharge plasma decomposition for gaseous air contaminants-trichlorotrifluoroethane and trichloroethylene

The decomposition performance of gaseous environmental destructive contaminants in air by using atmospheric pressure discharge plasma including the surface discharge induced plasma chemical processing (SPCP) was examined. The main contaminants tested were chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-113) and trichloroethylene, typically. The discharge exciting frequency range studied was wide-50 Hz to 50 kHz. Results showed the low frequency discharge requires high voltage to inject high electric power in the gas and to decompose the contaminants. A gas chromatograph mass spectrometer was used to analyze discharge products of dense CFC-113 or trichloroethylene. Among the detected products were HCl, CCIFO, and CHCl/sub 3/. Two different electrode configurations; the silent discharge (coaxial) electrode and the coil-electrode were also tested and compared to each other as a gas reactor.