Effect of operating variables of corona discharge reactor onbenzene removal efficiency

Abstract

Volatile organic compound (VOC) has been known as one of air pollutants generated by the fast growth of industry and social development. There were many kind of VOC which is harmful for humans and environments. All concerned organization requested controlling of these problems. As a result, there were many technologies developed for handling and degrading such VOC. Among these technologies, corona discharge reactor has been known as a promising means because of its effectiveness and compactness. In this work, benzene was selected as a model VOC pollutant. Performance of multi-channeled corona discharge reactor for removal of benzene was experimentally examined under effect of electrode size, gas flow rate, initial concentration and number of channels on removal of benzene. Stainless wire 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6 mm were employed as electrode for generating plasma within the reactor. The gas flow rate was varied in range 1,000 – 4,000 ml/min. The initial concentration of benzene was varied in a range of 500 – 2,000 ppm and the number of channels within the reactor was 1, 2 and 4 channels. Based on all experimental result, 93 percent of removal efficiency was achieved when the electrode with diameter of 0.6 mm, benzene flow rate of 1,000 ml/min, and concentration of 500 ppm were supplied into the single-channel reactor.