Decomposition of benzene using alumina-hybrid and catalyst-hybrid plasma reactors

In order to investigate the effects of alumina and metal ions in plasma discharge, plasma reactors packed with a mixture of BaTiO₃ pellets and porous Al₂O₃ pellets (alumina-hybrid reactor), and with a-mixture of BaTiO₃ pellets and metal-supported Al₂O₃ pellets (catalyst-hybrid reactor) were examined for oxidation of dilute benzene in air. It was found that the oxidative decomposition of benzene was enhanced by concentrating benzene on the Al₂O₃ pellets and the catalyst pellets. Furthermore, the selectivities to CO ₂ in the alumina-hybrid reactor and the catalyst-hybrid reactors were higher than those in the plasma reactor packed with BaTiO ₃ pellets alone. In particular, the selectivities to CO₂ in the catalyst-hybrid reactors using Ag, Co, Cu and Ni/Al₂ O₃ were higher than those from the alumina-hybrid reactor. In addition, the presence of the alumina and catalysts suppressed the formation of N₂O