| Abstract
| - In the past few years, air pollution control has been a priority of the European Union. In this paper, we present a new process specifically designed to treat bitumen fumes from covering plants: this process couples the destruction of the pollutant by activated (radicals and ions) molecules produced by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), a nonthermal plasma, and adsorption of converted pollutant molecules on a mineral bed. The process worked at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature. Bitumen fumes contain volatile organic components (VOCs) and sulfured molecules responsible for the foul smell. Hydrodynamical simulations predicted that active species and the pollutant mix properly in the reactor, favoring plasma treatment. As a result, pollutant molecules were softly oxidized on ketones or alcoholic functions; their S−C bonds were broken by oxidative species, which led to the production of sulfur dioxide, and converted molecules formed aggregates. Plasma treatment also enhanced pollutant retention by mineral filters. Tests performed on half-scale laboratory pilots showed that the process is efficient in decreasing the VOC concentration, and a larger scale prototype is now being tested on a bitumen plant in France.
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