Energy-Effectiveness of Nonthermal Plasma Reactors for Toluene Vapor Destruction
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 7
Abstract
The energy-effectiveness of packed-bed and nonpacked-bed plasma reactors for the destruction of toluene vapors is evaluated on the basis of the power consumption of the reactor system. The operation and design parameters being evaluated include the applied voltage, inlet gas flow rate, and toluene concentration. The optimal operational conditions for the target destruction of toluene vapors, with minimum power consumption, are determined. The results showed that a packed-bed plasma reactor has a higher toluene destruction efficiency and a lower power consumption than a nonpacked-bed plasma reactor. The toluene destruction efficiency is increased as both the inlet gas flow rate and the toluene gas concentration are decreased. For a plasma reactor 2 cm in diameter and packed with 5-mm glass pellets, >90% of toluene destruction can be reached at an applied voltage of 8.7 kV, inlet toluene concentrations <1,000 ppm, and gas flow rates of <680 cm3/min. The corresponding energy-effectiveness is about 15 g toluene/kW⋅h.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Atkinson, R., and Lloyd, A. C. ( 1984). “Evaluation of kinetic and mechanistic data for modeling of photochemical smog.” J. Phys. Chem. Reference Data, 13(2), 315.
2.
Chang, M. B., and Chang, C. C. ( 1997). “Destruction and removal of toluene and MEK from gas streams with silent discharge plasmas.” AIChE J., 43(5), 1325–1330.
3.
Chang, J. S., and Masuda, S. ( 1988). “Mechanism of pulse corona induced plasma chemical process for removal NOx and SOx from combustion gases.” Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Vol. 2, 1628–1635.
4.
Emdee, J. L., Brezinsky, K., and Glassman, I. ( 1992). “A kinetic model for the oxidation of toluene near 1200 k.” J. Phys. Chem., 96, 2151–2161.
5.
Futamura, S., and Yamamoto, T. ( 1997). “Byproduct identification and mechanism determination in plasma chemical decomposition of trichloroethylene.” Trans. Industry Appl., 33(2), 447–453.
6.
Futamura, S., Yamamoto, T., and Lawless, P. A. ( 1995). “Towards understanding of VOC decomposition mechanisms using nonthermal plasmas.” Trans. Industry Appl., 31, 1453–1458.
7.
Futamura, S., Zhang, A. H., and Yamamoto, T. ( 1997). “The dependence of nonthermal plasma behavior of VOCs on their chemical structures.” J. Electrostatics, 42, 51–62.
8.
Higashi, M., Sugaya, M., Veki, K., and Fujii, K. ( 1985). “Plasma process of exhaust gas from a diesel engine vehicle.” Proc., Int. Conf. Plasma Chem., 2, 366–371.
9.
Mizuno, A., Yamazaki, Y., Obama, S., Suzuki, E., and Okazaki, K. ( 1993). “Effects of voltage waveform on partial discharge in ferroelectric pellet layer for gas cleaning.” Trans. Industry Appl., 29(2), 262–267.
10.
Rosocha, L. A., et al. ( 1993). “Treatment of hazardous organic wastes using sinlent discharge plasma.” Non-thermal plasma techniques for pollution control, Part B, Berlin; New York, 281–308.
11.
Vitale, S. A., Bromberg, L., Hadidi, K., Falkos, P., and Cohn, D. R. ( 1996). “Decomposing VOCs with an electron-beam plasma reactor.” Chemtech., 26(4), 58–63.
12.
Yamamoto, T., et al. ( 1992). “Control of volatile organic compounds by an AC energized ferroelectric pellet reactor and a pulsed corona reactor.” Trans. Industry Appl., 28(3), 528–533.
13.
Yamamoto, T., et al. ( 1996). “Catalysis-assisted plasma technology for carbon tetrachloride destruction.” Trans. Industry Appl., 32(1), 100–104.
14.
Yamamoto, T., and Jang, B. W.-L. ( 1996). “Aerosol generation and decomposition of CFC-113 by the ferroelectric packed-bed plasma reactor.” Trans. Industry Appl., 32, 1830–1836.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Received: Dec 5, 1999
Published online: Jul 1, 2001
Published in print: Jul 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.