Note: Gliding arc discharges with phase-chopped voltage supply for enhancement of energy efficiency in volatile organic compound decomposition

This note reports on a novel power supply design for gliding arc discharge with applying controlled phase-chopping on the input voltage waveform, aiming at simultaneously satisfying the decomposition efficacy and energy efficiency for volatile organic compound decomposition. With a proper control on the phase-chopping fraction, the energy efficiency can be obviously enhanced, while the decomposition efficacy is almost maintained, possibly due to the compensation from long-life radical induced decomposition during discharge intervals. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4775720]