Atmospheric pressure discharge plasma processing for gaseous air contaminants

The authors investigated the decomposition performance of gaseous environmental destructive contaminants in air by using atmospheric-pressure discharge plasma including SPCP (surface discharge induced plasma chemical processing). Contaminants tested were chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-113) and trichloroethylene. The discharge exciting frequency range was wide, from 50 Hz to 50 kHz. Low-frequency discharge requires high voltage to inject high electric power into the gas and to decompose contaminants. A gaschromato mass spectrometer analyzed discharge products of dense CFC-113 or trichloroethylene, and HCl, CClFO, CHCl, etc. were detected as products. Two different electrode configurations, silent discharge (coaxial) electrode and coil electrode, were tested and compared