Author(s)

A. M. Vandenbroucke, A. Vanderstricht, M. T. Nguyen Dinh, J.-M. Giraudon, R. Morent, N. De Geyter, J.-F. Lamonier & C. Leys

Abstract

The decomposition of trichloroethylene (TCE) in air by non-thermal plasma was investigated with a multi-pin-to-plate direct current (DC) discharge at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The effects of various operating parameters on the removal efficiency (RE) were examined. The experiments indicated that for low energy densities higher removal could be obtained with positive corona. For negative corona and 10% relative humidity (RH) a maximum RE of 99.5% could be achieved at 1100 J L-1. Formation of byproducts was qualitatively analyzed in detail with FT-IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Detected by-products for negative corona operated at 300 J L-1 and 10% RH include dichloroacetylchloride, trichloroacetaldehyde, phosgene, ozone, HCl, Cl2, CO and CO2. The highest RE for TCE was achieved with a relative humidity of 19%. Keywords: non-thermal plasma, volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene, by-products. 1 Introduction Many organic solvents used in metal, semiconductor and chemical industry have good physical and chemical properties and are therefore useful during the manufacturing process. Despite their good commercial value, most of them have a high volatility causing them to easily evaporate at ambient conditions. As a result the process waste gases are frequently contaminated with volatile organic

Keywords

non-thermal plasma, volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene, by-products