Innovative Approach for Benzene Degradation Using Hybrid Surface/Packed-Bed Discharge Plasmas

An innovative plasma reactor, which generates hybrid surface/packed-bed discharge (HSPBD) plasmas, was employed for the degradation of benzene. The HSPBD reactor was found to display remarkably better benzene degradation, mineralization, and energy performance than surface or packed-bed discharge reactors alone. The degradation efficiency, CO2 selectivity, and energy yield in the HSPBD reactor were 21%, 11%, and 3.9 g kWh(-1) higher, respectively, than in a surface discharge reactor and 30%, 21%, and 5.5 g kWh(-1) higher, respectively, than in a packed-bed discharge reactor operated at 280 J L-1 Particularly, the benzene degradation in the HSPBD reactor exhibited an unambiguous synergistic enhancement rather than a simple additive effect using the surface discharge and packed-bed discharge reactors. Moreover, in the HSPBD reactor, the formation of byproducts, such as NO2, was suppressed, while O-3 was promoted. The use of N-2 as the carrier gas was found to be effective for benzene degradation because of the fast reaction rate of N-2(A(3)Sigma(+)(u)) with benzene, and oxygen species derived from the dissociation of O-2 were found to be significant in the mineralization process. Thus, the addition of O-2 to N-2 allows for efficient degradation of benzene, and the optimized amount of O-2 was determined to be 3%.