Oxidation of styrene using a silent discharge plasma

Summary form only given, as follows. A cylindrically symmetrical dielectric barrier discharge was constructed to study the oxidation of styrene in the gas phase. Several operating parameters were varied to find the optimum conditions for styrene destruction. An argon/oxygen mix was used to generate the non-thermal plasma with oxygen concentrations ranging from 2-8%. The styrene concentrations ranged from 1000 ppm to 6000 ppm and energy densities of the SDP cell ranged from .5-3 kJ/liter. The temperature of the SDP cell was varied from 200/spl deg/C to 450/spl deg/C. The concentrations of styrene and its partial oxidation products were monitored by a CC-MS and the concentrations of CO/sub 2/ and CO were measured by FTIR. Destruction efficiencies of styrene up to 99.9% were measured.