PLASMA REMEDIATION OF PERCHLOROETHYLENE IN HUMID GAS STREAMS

Perchloroethylene (PCE) is one of a class of industrial solvents for which alternate disposal strategies are being investigated. Among these strategies is plasma remediation. In this paper we report on a computational study of the plasma remediation of PCE using repetitively pulsed dielectric barrier discharges. We discuss the dominant reaction pathways in the remediation of PCE and show that remediation is significantly improved in humid gas mixtures. Although plasma remediation does not totally oxidize PCE to the desired end-products (CO2 and HCl), the dominant end-products are more easily treated than PCE and can be disposed of using conventional methods. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.