Development of water treatment system using nanosecond pulsed powers to treat surfactant

Water Pollution is one of environment issues around the world. Consumption of surfactants instead of organic solvent has increased for industrial and domestic usages, but the surfactants have environmental load. We have studied a water treatment using nanosecond pulsed powers. Discharge plasmas generated by the nanosecond pulsed powers efficiently produce radicals, as ozone, which are applicable to water treatments. The water treatment by nanosecond pulsed power uses actions of not only radicals but also discharges. A water treatment system was developed to increase radical density and activate the action of discharges. In addition to use of nanosecond pulsed powers, a dielectric barrier in electrodes was adopted for the system to decrease electrode separation in the reactor. Decolorization of indigo carmine solution and decomposition of surfactants solution were tested by using the treatment system. The decolorization was tested to valuate performance of the treatment system by comparison with a previous system. As a result, the indigo carmine solution was decolorized. The decomposition of the surfactant was evaluated by chemical oxygen demand (COD) which was widely used for assessments of drainage water quality. The COD of the surfactant solution was decreased mildly. On the other hands, foaming property, as a behavior of surfactants, remarkably reduced.