Effect of multiple pulses on the plasma chemistry during the remediation of NOx using dielectric barrier discharges

Abstract

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) are being investigated to remediate NOx from atmospheric gas streams. The interaction of species generated during previous pulses of repetitively pulsed devices, such as DBDs, make their operation fundamentally different from single pulse operation. To investigate these effects, the reaction chemistry of multiple pulses during NOx remediation was modelled. Reactions between radicals produced during a pulse with the products from previous pulses produce significantly different end products. For example, approximately 10 ppm of methyl nitrate (CH3ONO2) was obtained by multiple pulsing whereas less than 1 ppm of it was produced with single discharge formats. Multiple pulsing has also been found to be more efficient for NOx remediation. W-values for NOx remediation decreased from 240 eV for a single pulse (58 J l-1) to 185 eV when the same energy was distributed over 20 pulses.