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.

Abatement of mixed volatile organic compounds in a catalytic hybrid surface/packed-bed discharge plasma reactor

In this study, post plasma-catalysis degradation of mixed volatile organic compounds （benzene, toluene, and xylene） has been performed in a hybrid surface/packed-bed discharge plasma reactor with Ag-Ce/γ- Al2O3 catalyst at room temperature. The effect of relative air humidity on mixed VOCs degradation has also been investigated in both plasma-only and PPC systems. In comparison to the plasma-only system, a significant improvement can be observed in the degradation performance of mixed VOCs in PPC system with Ag-Ce/γ- Al2O3 catalyst. In PPC system, 68%, benzene, 89% toluene, and 94% xylene were degraded at 800 J.L-1 respectively which were 25% 11%.. and 9% higher than those in pl＇asma-only system. This result can be attributed to the high catalytic activity of Ag-Ce/γ- Al2O3 catalyst to effectively decompose 03 and lead to generating more reactive species which are capable of destructing the VOCs molecules completely. Moreover, the presence of Ag-Ce/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in plasma significantly decreased the emission of discharge byproducts （NOx and O3） and promoted the mineralization of mixed VOCs towards CO2. Adding a small amount of water vapor into PPC system enhanced the degradation efficiemzies of mixed VOCs, however, further increasin.g water vapor had a negative impact on the degradation efficiencies, which was primarily attributed to the quenching of energetic electrons by water vapor in plasma and the competitive adsorption of water vapor on the catalyst surface. Meanwhile, the catalysts betbre and after discharge were characterized by the Brunauer-Emment-Teller and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Cu–Mn–Ce ternary mixed-oxide catalysts for catalytic combustion of toluene

Cu-Mn, Cu-Mn-Ce, and Cu-Ce mixed-oxide catalysts were prepared by a citric acid sol-gel method and then characterized by XRD, BET, H_2-TPR and XPS analyses. Their catalytic properties were investigated in the toluene combustion reaction. Results showed that the Cu-Mn-Ce ternary mixed-oxide catalyst with 1：2：4 mole ratios had the highest catalytic activity, and 99% toluene conversion was achieved at temperatures below 220°C. In the Cu-Mn-Ce catalyst, a portion of Cu and Mn species entered into the Ce O2 fluorite lattice, which led to the formation of a ceria-based solid solution. Excess Cu and Mn oxides existed on the surface of the ceria-based solid solution. The coexistence of Cu-Mn mixed oxides and the ceria-based solid solution resulted in a better synergetic interaction than the Cu-Mn and Cu-Ce catalysts, which promoted catalyst reducibility, increased oxygen mobility, and enhanced the formation of abundant active oxygen species.