Novel plasma reactor using honeycomb ceramics driven by a fast Si-thyristor for environmental applications

Summary form only given. Non-thermal plasma produced by a pulsed power generator has attracted the attention of researchers for air pollution control. Although many kinds of reactors have been proposed, no clear conclusion is obtained on the most suitable one for the pollution control. A key factor in the selection of the reactor is the energy efficiency for decomposing the pollutants. To achieve a breakthrough leading to high decomposition efficiency, we proposed to utilize a fast pulsed discharge in honeycomb ceramics. The honeycomb ceramics are one of the most common carrier materials to support various catalytic processes because of their large surface area that is highly active for chemical reactions. There is a possibility that the non-thermal plasma produced by the fast pulsed discharge enhances the chemical reactions on the ceramics surface. To establish highly efficient decomposition of the pollutant gases, not only the volume reaction in the non-thermal plasma but also the surface reaction on the ceramics surface should be utilized simultaneously. To confirm feasibility of the proposed system, we applied it to a NO/sub x/ decomposing experiment. Two types of honeycomb ceramics were employed for the reactors, namely mesh-type cordierite ceramics and monolith-type alumina ceramics.