Mathematical analysis of positive pulsed corona discharge process employedfor removal of nitrogen oxides

A mathematical model was proposed to describe the behavior of the removal o f nitrogen oxides (NOx) in a positive pulsed corona discharge reactor. The proposed model takes into account radical production at each pulsing and su bsequent radical utilization for NOx removal. The production efficiencies o f radicals such as O, OH, H, and N were derived by considering direct elect ron impact on dissociation of gaseous molecules, followed by excitation tra nsfer reactions of excited oxygen atoms. The production efficiencies of tho se species were used for the model calculations. The proposed model could a dequately predict the experimental data. Of the active species present, the ozone (O-3) produced by the reaction of O radical with oxygen was found to play the crucial role in oxidation of NO to NO2, both theoretically and ex perimentally.