Removal of adhesive dusts from flue gas using corona discharges with spraying water

Effective removal of adhesive and fine dusts from flue gas is very difficult. A new method of electrostatic precipitation of the corona discharges with spraying water(CDSW) was introduced. A new electrode configuration and the circulation spraying of water were employed in the method. The efficient electrostatic precipitation for adhesive and fine dusts can be accomplished without any drain water during a long operating period. The fundamental structure, discharge characteristics, mechanism of spraying and precipitation principle of the electrostatic precipitation using CDSW were described and analyzed. The V I characteristics, spraying state, supplying water quantity, influence of temperature and clean of the electrodes were researched in series experiments. The treating effects of circulating spraying using the corona plasma at the same time of electrostatic precipitation were investigated. The fundamental theories and experimental data were proposed, in order to effectively remove the adhesive dusts from flue gas using CDSW in practice.

Catalyst assisted destruction of trichloro ethylene and toluene in corona discharges

Destruction of trichloro ethylene (C 2HCl 3) by pulsed corona discharge reactor packed with alumina pellets and in absence of packing was investigated. Higher conversion of C 2HCl 3 was observed in presence of alumina than in absence of packing. Furthermore CO/CO 2 ratio in the by products was found to shift in favor of CO 2 by alumina compared with absence of packing. Influence of catalyst porosity on C 2HCl 3 destruction and on by product ozone generation during the processing was also studied. Both alumina Ⅰ and alumina Ⅱ show similar improvement in C 2HCl 3 destruction. However, more important observation was that alumina Ⅰ produces higher by product ozone, while, alumina Ⅱ produces lower by product ozone, than in the case of no packing. The catalyst porosity effect was also investigated for destruction of toluene and was found to be similar. Intermediates of C 2HCl 3 destruction, as identified by GC MS, were COCl 2, CH 2Cl 2CHCl 3, CCl 4 and C 2HCl 5. In presence of alumina the amount of these intermediates was much reduced, indicating the catalytic function of alumina.

Pulsed Corona Discharges and Their Applications in Toxic VOCs Abatement

Plasma processes are among the emerging technologies for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) abatement[1]. Both thermal plasmas and non-equilibrium plasmas (cold plasmas) are being developed for VOCs cleanup[2,3]. Particularly, pulsed corona discharges offer several advantages over conventional VOCs abatement techniques[4-7]. To optimize the existing technology and to develop it further, there is need to understand the mechanisms involved in plasma chemical reactions. Furthermore, it is strongly desirable to be able to predict the behavior of new VOCs in non-equilibrium plasma environment from the data known for a few representative compounds. Pulsed corona discharge technique is introduced here with citation of relevant literature. Fundamental principles, useful for predicting the VOCs' decomposition behavior, have been worked out from the published literature. Latest developments in the area, targeted to minimize the energy losses, improve the VOCs destruction efficiency and reduce the generation of unwanted organic and inorganic by-products, are presented.

Hydrogen Production from Methanol Using Corona Discharges

Hydrogen production at room temperature from liquid methanol has been conducted using corona discharge. The content of water in methanol solution has a significant effect on this production. When water concentration increases from 1.0% to 16.7%,the methanol conversion rate changes from 0.196 to 0.284 mol/h. An important finding in this investigation is the formation of ethylene glycol as a major by-product. The yield of ethylene glycol is ranged from 0.0045 to 0.0075 mol/h based on the water content.

Electro-Hydrodynamics and Kinetic Modeling of Dry and Humid Air Flows Activated by Corona Discharges

The present work is devoted to the 2D simulation of a point-to-plane Atmospheric Corona Discharge Reactor （ACDR） powered by a DC high voltage supply. The corona reactor is periodically crossed by thin mono filamentary streamers with a natural repetition frequency of some tens of kHz. The study compares the results obtained in dry air and in air mixed with a small amount of water vapour （humid air）. The simulation involves the electro-dynamics~ chemical kinetics and neutral gas hydrodynamics phenomena that influence the kinetics of the chemical species transformation. Each discharge lasts about one hundred of a nanosecond while the post- discharge occurring between two successive discharges lasts one hundred of a microsecond. The ACDR is crossed by a lateral dry or humid air flow initially polluted with 400 ppm of NO. After 5 ms, the time corresponding to the occurrence of 50 successive discharge/post-discharge phases, a higher NO removal rate and a lower ozone production rate are found in humid air. This change is due to the presence of the HO2 species formed from the H primary radical in the discharge zone.

Burst pulses for positive corona discharges in atmospheric air:the collective movement of charged species

Positive corona burst pulses are an unstable pulse mode.They appear in a small range of the onset stage,and their current pulses result from the collective movement of charged species.This paper focused on the connections between these pulses and the collective movement of charged species.The movement of species is divided into four parts with respect to time:the(1)initial growth of species,(2)formation and development of the streamer region and negative ion sheath,(3)dead time(the time interval between the pulses),and(4)rapid re-growth of species.The movement of the species in the four parts and the correspondence with the current pulse were analyzed.The numerical results indicated the following:the rapid rising of the species matched the rising edge of the pulses,the streamer region,and negative ion sheath appeared in the falling edge of the primary pulse,and the rapid re-growth of species matched the re-ignition of the pulses.The results were in qualitative agreement with deductions and experimental observations in the literature.

Generation of reactive atomic species of positive pulsed corona discharges in wetted atmospheric flows of nitrogen and oxygen

The emission spectra of excited radicals（OH（A^2E）,O（3p^3 P）,Hα（3P）） and emissive species（N2^＋（B^2∑u^＋）,N2（C3Πu）） produced by positive pulsed high-voltage needle-plane corona discharges in atmospheric N2 and O2 flows wetted with 10%H2O at 80 ℃ are used to investigate the relative concentrations of the produced radicals.The results indicate that the tendencies of the concentrations of radicals with discharge conditions are similar to each other due to their similar excitation processes by electron collision.The influence of oxygen flow mixed with the nitrogen flow on the emission intensities of O（3p^5P → 3s^5S2^0.）,Hα（3P → 2S）,N2＋（B^2∑u^＋ → X^2∑g＋0-0）,and N2（C^3Πu → B^3Πg 1-0） is presented.When the flow rate of oxygen addition is varied from 0-30 ml min^-1,the emission intensities of O（3p^5P → 3s^5S2^0.）,Hα（3P → 2s）,and N2^＋（B^2∑u^＋ →X^2∑g 0-0） increase and reach a maximum.Then,if the oxygen flow rate increases further,the emission intensities tend to decrease.However,the intensity of N2（C^3Πu → B^3Πg1-0） decreases monotonously with the increasing oxygen flow,which indicates that the electron density decreases with the increasing oxygen flow.By the tendencies of the relative intensities to N2（C^3Πu → B^3Πg 1-0）,the concentrations of the total produced O,H,and N2^＋ are shown to increase with the oxygen flow.Based on the reactions for the production of H and O without and with the addition of O2,the analytic solutions for H and O production are derived in accordance with the experimental results.

The Optical Diagnosis of Underwater Positive Sparks and Corona Discharges

In this paper, two types of underwater discharges, spark discharge and corona discharge, are investigated by optical diagnosis using a high speed framing camera （HSFC） with the framing time within nanoseconds under the same experimental conditions. In order to capture the photographs of streamer propagation, the influence of the randomicity of the prebreakdown duration is taken into consideration. By increasing the conductivity of water, the randomicity reduces effectively. Experimental results show that, for a spark discharge, the process can be separated into three stages： the generation and propagation of a streamer, the generation and expansion of the discharge channel, and the development and annihilation of the plasma. The streamers do not directly move to the opposite electrode, but form a bush-like figure. With the increase of the number of branches, the velocity of streamer propagation slows down. The trajectory of the initial channel between electrodes is not straight. However, with the channel expanding, its shape transforms into a straight column. For a corona discharge, there are two stages： the generation and propagation of a streamer, and the stagnation and annihilation of the streamer. The initial streamer in a corona discharge is generated later than in a spark discharge. The forms of streamers for both kinds of discharge are similar; however, streamers generated by a corona discharge propagate with a slower velocity and the number of branches is less compared with a spark discharge. When the energy injection stops, the luminescence of plasma inside the discharge channel （spark discharge） or streamers （corona discharge） becomes weaker and weaker, and finally disappears.

The enhanced aerosol deposition by bipolar corona discharge arrays

The corona discharges provide an efficient way to induce precipitation or eliminate fog by increasing ion density in the open air.In this paper,one bipolar corona discharge array(positive and negative high voltage coupled simultaneously)which can generate high densities of positive and negative ions is developed.The comparison between bipolar corona discharge array and unipolar corona discharge array(positive or negative coupled only)indicates that bipolar corona discharge array can generate~3 times higher ion density than unipolar corona discharge array.More charged aerosols are produced through collisions between ions and aerosols.The collision rate between aerosols is increased substantially by the attractive forces between positively and negatively charged aerosols.The deposition of aerosols induced by bipolar discharges is 25.7%higher than that of unipolar discharges at the humidity super-saturation condition.Therefore,the bipolar corona discharge system is a new option for the large scale ion sources used for artificial weather modification.

Study on Detection of Negative Corona Discharge Generated in Rod-Plane Air Gap by Using External Electrode Method

A detective method of a negative corona discharge by means of an external electrode is presented. The relationship between an area of the external electrode and a detected voltage waveform is examined experimentally. This experimental study is carried out with the use of a rod-plane air gap. The results obtained will be applicable to problems associated with silos, ducts, and high-voltage equipment.

Simultaneous oxidation of NO,SO_2 and Hg^0 from flue gas by pulsed corona discharge

A process capable of simultaneously oxidizing NO, SO2, and Hg^0 was proposed, using a nigh-voltage and short-duration positive pulsed corona discharge. By focusing on NO, SO2, and Hg^0 oxidation efficiencies, the influences of pulse peak voltage, pulse frequency, initial concentration, electrode number, residence time and water vapor addition were investigated. The results indicate that NO, SO2 and Hg^0 oxidation efficiencies depend primarily on the radicals （OH, HO2, O） and the active species （O3, H2O2, etc.） produced by the pulsed corona discharge. The NO, SO2 and Hg^0 oxidation efficiencies could be improved as pulse peak voltage, pulse frequency, electrode number and residence time increased, but they were reduced with increasing initial concentrations. By adding water vapor, the SO2 oxidation efficiency was improved remarkably, while the NO oxidation efficiency decreased slightly. In our experiments, the simultaneous NO, SO2, and Hg^0 oxidation efficiencies reached to 40%, 98%, and 55% with the initial concentrations 479 mg/m^3, 1040 mg/m^3, and 15.0 μg/m^3, respectively.

Numerical simulation and experimental validation of a direct current air corona discharge under atmospheric pressure

Air corona discharge is one of the critical problems associated with high-voltage equipment. Investigating the corona mechanism plays a key role in enhancing the electrical insulation performance. An improved self-consistent multi-component two-dimensional plasma hybrid model is presented for the simulation of a direct current atmospheric pressure corona discharge in air. The model is based on plasma hydrodynamic and chemical models, and includes 12 species and 26 reactions. In addition, the photoionization effect is introduced into the model. The simulation on a bar-plate electrode configuration with an inter-electrode gap of 5.0 mm is carried out. The discharge voltage- current characteristics and the current density distribution predicted by the hybrid model agree with the experimental measurements. In addition, the dynamics of volume charged species generation, discharge current waveform, current density distribution at an electrode, charge density, electron temperature, and electric field variations are investigated in detail based on the model. The results indicate that the model can contribute valuable insights into the physics of an air plasma discharge.

Degradation of Organic Compounds by Active Species Sprayed in a Dielectric Barrier Corona Discharge System

Investigation was made into the degradation of organic compounds by a dielectric barrier corona discharge （DBCD） system. The DBCD, consisting of a quartz tube, a concentric high voltage electrode and a net wrapped to the external wall （used as ground electrode）, was introduced to generate active species which were sprayed into the organic solution through an aerator fixed on the bottom of the tube. The effect of four factors-the discharge voltage, gas flow rate, solution conductivity, and pH of wastewater, on the degradation efficiency of phenol was assessed. The obtained results demonstrated that this process was an effective method for phenol degradation. The degradation rate was enhanced with the increase in power supplied. The degradation efficiency in alkaline conditions was higher than those in acid and neutral conditions. The optimal gas flow rate for phenol degradation in the system was 1.6 L/min, while the solution conductivity had little effect on the degradation.

Destruction of VOCs by combination of corona discharge and catalysis techniques

The catalytic effect of alumina on the destruction of toluene, benzene, acetone and methanol, in DC pulsed corona discharge reactor was studied. In the presence of alumina the inlet concentration of the VOCs was varied from ~5×10-6 mol/L to ~80×10-6 mol/L, and their decomposition efficiency (conversion %) was found to be 99%-80% for toluene, 99%-97% for benzene, 95%-92% for acetone, and 72%-85% for methanol. Corresponding decomposition in the absence of alumina was 90%-38% for toluene, 89%-57% for benzene, 42%-30% for acetone, and 47%-19% for methanol. Feed gas flow rate was 400 cm 3/min and power reading from DC source was 74 W in all of the experiments. Alumina also shifted the CO/CO 2 ratio in the by products in favor of CO 2. Ozone concentration at the reactor outlet was higher in the presence of alumina. Enhancement in VOCs decomposition by alumina was explained on the basis of higher concentration of ozone and its precursor atomic oxygen O . Decomposition efficiency (conversion %) for individual compounds was found to be inversely proportional to the ionization potential of the compound, under identical conditions. Double DC high voltage sources pulse generator was tested and found to improve VOCs decomposition compared with the conventional single DC high voltage source.

Factors Influencing the Electron Yield of Needle-Ring Pulsed Corona Discharge Electron Source for Negative Ion Mobility Spectrometer

A simple negative ion mobility spectrometer （IMS） is designed and used to investi- gate the factors that influence the number and efficiency of electrons generated by the needle-ring pulsed corona discharge electron source. Simulation with Ansoft Maxwell 12 is carried out to analyze the electric field distribution within the IMS, and to offer the basis and foundation for analyzing the measurement results. The measurement results of the quantities of electrons show that when the drift electric field strength and the ring inner diameter rise, both the number of ef- fective electrons and the effective electron rate are increased. When the discharge voltage becomes stronger, the number of effective electrons goes up while the effective electron rate goes down. In light of the simulation results, mechanisms underlying the effects of drift electric field strength, ring inner diameter, and discharge voltage on the effective electron number and effective electron rate are discussed. These will make great sense for designing negative ion mode IMS using the needle-ring pulsed corona discharge as the electron source.

Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Mixture by Multi-Pin-Mesh Corona Discharge Combined with Pulsed High-Voltage

Removal of single component and binary mixtures of benzene and m-xylene using a multi-pin-mesh reactor was studied to find the decomposition characteristics, carbon balance and CO2 selectivity. The decomposition rate of benzene in mixture was approximately 16% lower than that of single component benzene. However, the decomposition rate of m-xylene in mixture was slightly higher than that of single component m-xylene. Carbon balance of the mixture decomposition process achieved a lower level than that of single component benzene/m-xylene. Increase in the specific input energy was helpful to improve CO2 selectivity in the single component decomposition process, while the specific input energy had a negligible effect on CO2 selectivity in the mixture decomposition process. By changing the oxygen content in background gas, we found that different types of radicals showed different reaction activities toward benzene and m-xylene. Benzene was more likely to react with nitrogen-containing radicals, while m-xylene was more likely to react with oxygen-containing radicals.

Research on Nanosecond Pulse Corona Discharge with Cross Magnetic Field Applied

An application of magnetic field to the nanosecond pulse corona discharge is investigated. A cylinder reactor with different corona electrodes is set up for experimental study. A magnetic field with its direction perpendicular to the corona discharge is applied. Different discharge images are taken under single nanosecond pulse with a high sensitive UV-visible light imagine recorder. Experimental results show that with a cross magnetic field the nanosecond corona discharge both generates paths and develops homogeneously in space more than that without the magnetic field. The results may lead to a possibility to apply a cross magnetic field on nanosecond pulse corona discharge for getting higher desulfurization efficiency.

Removal of NO and SO2 in Corona Discharge Plasma Reactor with Water Film

In this paper, a novel type of a corona discharge plasma reactor was designed, which consists of needle-plate-combined electrodes, in which a series of needle electrodes are placed in a glass container filled with flue gas, and a plate electrode is immersed in the water. Based on this model, the removal of NO and SO2 was tested experimentally. In addition, the effect of streamer polarity on the reduction of SO2 and NO was investigated in detail. The experimental results show that the corona wind formed between the high-voltage needle electrode and the water by corona discharge enhances the cleaning efficiency of the flue gas because of the presence of water, and the cleaning efficiency will increase with the increase of applied dc voltage within a definite range. The removal efficiency of SO2 up to 98%, and about 85% of NOx removal under suitable conditions is obtained in our experiments.

Electrical Characteristics of Pulsed Corona Discharge Plasmas in Chitosan Solution

Pulsed discharge plasma has exhibited active potential to prepare low molecular weight chitosan. In the present study, the viscosity of ehitosan solution was decreased noticeably after treated with pulsed corona discharge plasma. An experimental investigation on electrical characteristics of pulsed corona discharge plasma in chitosan solution was conducted with a view toward getting insight into discharge process. Factors affecting I-V curve, single pulse injec- tion energy and pulse width were studied. Experimental results showed positive effect of pulsed peak voltage on discharge plasma in chitosan solution. Pulse-forming capacitor greatly influenced the discharge form, and 4 nF was observed as a suitable value for efficiently generating stable discharge plasmas. As the electrode distance was larger than 10 ram, it had slight impact on dis- charge plasma due to the excellent conductive-property of chitosan solution. The injection energy significantly increased with air flow rate, while the pulse width hardly changed as the air flow rate increased from 0.5 m^3/h to 1.0 m^3/h. This study is expected to provide reference for promoting the application of pulsed corona discharge plasma to ehitosan solution treatment.

Negative Corona Discharge Ion Source Under Ambient Conditions with Mini Line-cylinder Electrodes

A novel ambient negative corona discharge ion source with mini line-cylinder electrodes is designed. The diameters of inner and outer electrode are 0.16 and 4 mm respectively. With a special assembly method, a perfect coaxiality of the two electrodes is obtained. An injection system utilizing a temperature control technique, achieves a constant and stable concentration of the sample, which is critical to the experiment. The formulas of the corona onset voltage of line-cylinder electrodes are also introduced. The experiment results show that negative substances such as formic acid and acetic acid can be ionized under ambient conditions. When combined with micro electrical mechanical system fabricationprocess, the volume of the ion source can be reduced dramatically, but there is an undesirable surface discharge. To solve the surface discharge problem, an improved structure was designed and tested. The simplicity of the interface of the ion source makes it suitable for mass spectrometer, micro mass spectrometer, ion mobility spectrometer, and high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometer applications.