Abstract
| - A nonthermal, atmospheric pressure plasma, made-up of a BaTiO3 packed-bed reactor, has been used tostudy the formation of NOx and N2O during the plasma destruction of a range of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants, including chlorinated, brominated, fluorinated, and iodinated methanespecies, in a carrier gas of air. Using the plasma destruction of pure air as a baseline, it is found that theamount of NOx formed is unaffected by the addition of a few hundred parts per million of a simple hydrocarbon(e.g. methane). In the case of the fluorinated, chlorinated, and brominated methanes, we find enhancedproduction of NOx and a marked increase in the ratio of NO2 to NO formed, from ∼1.1 in air and methaneto ∼2.3 in halogenated species. However, iodinated additives (specifically methyl iodide and diiodomethane)have remarkably different results compared to the other halogenated additives; they show enhanced increasesin the NO2 to NO ratio (∼6−13) and reduced NOx production. The enhanced conversion of NO to NO2 isattributed to reactions involving halogen oxides, e.g. ClO and IO.
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