Spectroscopic determination of molecular kinetics in a pulsed corona discharge

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:466543

Shofran, S P; Boss, C B ^[1]; Lawless, P A ^[2]

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1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
2. Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)

The pulsed corona discharge, which is a low power electrical discharge that operates at or near atmospheric pressure, is currently being tested and optimized for its ability to convert volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air to environmentally safe by-products. The plasma reactor consists of a 0.40 mm wire anode that is in the center of a 3.0 cm i.d. stainless steel cathode. Pulsed high voltage is applied to the anode through a rotating spark gap assembly designed in this lab. The discharge is a streamer-type plasma that is formed from the strong electric field associate with the anode. Air containing ppm concentrations of toluene flows through the reactor at 0.50 L/min. A CCD detector was used to observe the axial emission from the corona discharge. The resultant spectra were digitized and the average electron energy calculated by using a method outlined by Spyrou and Manassis. Reactive species detected by the CCD were identified and coupled with knowledge of incomplete break-down products to kinetically model the corona plasma and to show how volatile organic compounds are converted to environmentally suitable molecules.

• OSTI ID: 466543
• Report Number(s): CONF-951017--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
CONVERSION
CORONA DISCHARGES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLASMA
SPECTRA
TOLUENE