NO removal in a photo-triggered discharge reactor

This paper presents the first study of a new type of reactor, the so-called photo-triggered reactor, for gas cleaning by non-thermal plasmas. Compared to the classical discharges used for this application, it allows the produ ction of large volumes of uniformly excited plasmas without filamentary str uctures and glow to are transition. Experimental and modellization studies of a 50 cm(3) photo-triggered reactor have been performed. Chemical efficie ncy and specific energy consumption for NO removal in N-2/O-2/NO mixtures h ave been determined. It is shown that the NO removal efficiency is a sensit ive function of the input energy but does not depend on the initial reduced electric field, (E/N)(0), for values higher than 200 Td. Depending on mixt ure composition, NO destruction efficiencies between 30 and 100% are achiev ed in only one shot with energetic costs in the range 15 to 50 eV per remov ed NO molecule (22-75 g [NO] kW(-1) h(-1)) for input specific energy lower than 150 J l(-1). Moreover, in dry air, an ozone production efficiency as h igh as 64 g [O](3) kW(-1) h(-1) (28 eV mol(-1)) is obtained, demonstrating the excellent capability of the photo-triggered discharges to produce large amounts of atoms and radicals which in turn can reduce or oxidize the poll utant molecules. All these results point out the effectiveness of the photo -triggered discharges to homogeneously produce large volumes of plasma whic h could be efficiently used for gas cleaning applications.