CONTROL OF VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS BY AN AC ENERGIZED FERROELECTRIC PELLET REACTOR AND A PULSED CORONA REACTOR

Two laboratory-scale plasma reactors (an alternating current (ac) energized ferroelectric (high-dielectric ceramic) packed bed reactor and a nanosecond pulsed corona reactor) were constructed. This study was done to develop baseline engineering data to demonstrate the feasibility of the application of plasma reactors to the destruction of various volatile organic compounds (VOC's) at ppm levels. Complete destruction was obtained for toluene. Conversions of methylene chloride at 95% and trichlorotrifluoroethane (known as CFC-113) at 67% were achieved for the plasma reactors used. The conversion was dependent on the mean electron energy in the reactor and was also related to how strongly halogen species were bonded with carbon.