Destruction of environmental air contaminants in non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasmas

Summary form only given. In the present work, we describe the results of the use of non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasmas generated in three plasmas reactors based on the capillary plasma electrode (CEP) design for the remediation of VOC-containing air streams. VOC concentrations of up to several hundred ppm were used. While most data were obtained for n-heptane (typical aliphatic compound) and toluene (typical aromatic compound), we also studied the plasma destruction of benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. Destruction rates of more than 90% could be achieved with moderate power expenditure. The main emphasis of this study was the detailed investigation of the effects of plasma reactor volume, plasma power, specific energy, initial contaminant concentration, species residence time in the plasma, treatment efficiency of single compounds vs. species mixtures, and by-product formation on the VOC destruction rates.