Gas-Phase Pollutant Decomposition with Non-Thermal Plasmas: Simple Removal Equations and Figures-of Merit
Abstract
Non-thermal plasmas (NTPs) are a type of advanced oxidation and reduction technology for treating gas-phase chemical pollutants. Such plasmas are good sources of highly reactive oxidative and reductive species (free radicals and others), e.g., O(P3), OH, N, H, NH, CH, O3, O2 (delta-1), and plasma electrons. Because radical-attack reaction rate constants are very large for many chemical species, entrained pollutants are readily decomposed by NTPs. Via these reactive species, one can direct electrical energy into favorable gas chemistry through energetic electrons, rather than using the energy to heat the gas. NTPs are commonly created by an electrical discharge in a gas or the injection of an energetic electron beam into a gas. Both methods create secondary plasma electrons, with a distribution of electron energies defined by an average electron energy (or electron temperature). In NTPs, the electrons are highly energetic (hot) and the ions and background gas species are at near-ambient temperature (cold). For this reason, these plasmas are sometimes called cold plasmas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA371119
Entities
People
- Louis A. Rosocha
Organizations
- Los Alamos National Laboratory