CORONA-INDUCED CHEMICAL SCRUBBER FOR THE CONTROL OF NOX EMISSIONS

Two dielectric materials (barium titanate and glass pellets) were eval uated for their ability to decompose/oxidize nitric oxide (NO) by nont hermal plasma discharge. Both barium titanate and glass pellets were t ested in a packed bed dielectric barrier plasma reactor. The plasma re actor using barium, titanate completely destroys 130 ppm of NO in nit airstream at an electric field strength of 9 kV/cm. A majority of the incoming NO is decomposed to N-2 and O-2. However, 30% of the NO is ox idized to NO2. The plasma reactor using glass pellets in a similar sys tem is just as effective, but at a 3 k V/cm higher electric field stre ngth. The 40 ppm NO2 in the effluent of the plasma reactor is then rem oved quantitatively by a caustic sodium sulfite aqueous scrubbing syst em. The outlet concentrations of both NO and NO2, from the plasma-scru bber combination system (corona-induced chemical scrubber) are beyond the detection limit of the chemiluminescent NOx analyzer.