Atmospheric pressure discharge Non-Thermal Plasma processing of air contaminated
by dilute Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) or flue gas with NO and NOz
was
experimentally tested. As VOCs, 100 - 1,000 ppm trichlorofluoroethylene, trichlene
and others were decomposed by the Non-Thermal Plasma processing. If discharge
power is sufficient, most of contaminants are decomposed more than 99% in any case.
The decomposition mechanism is not yet clear but various decomposition byproduct
analyses in air, oxygen or nitrogen were observed by using GC or GC-MS. Mixing
effects ofplasma processed pure air and contaminated air were also tested. In the case
of NOx reduction from the flue gas, the plasma is not so effective to reduce the NOx.
At some condition, the plasma oxide NO to NOz
, but that all. Total amount ofNOx
increased when the discharge power was large and residual oxygen concentration was
large enough. When the flue gas was plasma processed with hydrocarbon additives and
the processed gas was exposed to catalyst at room temperature, NOx concentration was
much decreased