Efficiency of several discharge types to degrade organic pollutants in water

Pulsed high-voltage discharges induce simultaneously several physical processes (UV light, shock waves) and chemical processes (active species and radicals such as °OH, °H, °O, °HO₂, H₂O₂, O₃, etc.), able to degrade harmful organic compounds in wastewater. This paper aims to compare various discharge types (either in the solution volume, or in the gas phase in close proximity to the liquid surface), based on the measurement of their energetic efficiency. This is done by correlating electrical measurements (injected energy) with chemical measurements (pollutant degradation), with various pollutants and catalysers. Pulsed corona discharges in the gas above the liquid appears to be the most effective process in terms of mol pollutant degraded per joule of electrical energy, and also the most simple to implement.