Effective combination of nonthermal plasma and catalysts for decomposition of benzene in air

The effective combination of plasma energy and solid surface properties, such as catalysis and adsorption, was investigated using packed-bed type catalyst-hybrid and adsorbent-hybrid reactors that were packed with a mixture of BaTiO3 pellets and other ceramic pellets (catalyst or adsorbent). The plasma reactor that employed catalysts indicated improvement in CO2 selectivity and suppression of N2O formation compared with the reactor that was packed with BaTiO3 alone. It was also found that the catalysts and adsorbents in the plasma reactor were useful in enhancing energy efficiency. Furthermore, the catalyst and adsorbent positions in the plasma reactor were very important for induction of surface reactions on the packed materials. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.