Effect of coexisting components on aromatic decomposition in a packed-bed plasma reactor

Decomposition of the aromatics benzene (C6H6), toluene (C6H5CH3), and o-xylene (C6H4(CH3)(2)) was carried out in a plasma reactor packed with BaTiO3 pellets in the presence of various background gases. The order of decomposition efficiency was C6H6 < C6H5CH3 < C6H4(CH3)(2), irrespective of the background gas. Decomposition was suppressed when water vapor (H2O) was added to the reactant gas; the extent of the suppression was in the order C6H6 > C6H5CH3 > C6H4(CH3)(2). When the reactant gas consisted of a mixture Of C6H6, C6H5CH3, and C6H4(CH3)(2), decomposition of C6H6 was suppressed, whereas the decompositions Of C6H5CH3 and C6H4(CH3)(2) were enhanced compared with the single-component decompositions of these aromatics. It seems that the migration of reactant molecules to the solid surface and the molecular sizes play important roles in these behaviors. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.