Vol. 11, No.2, pp.138-143 (2018)
Persistent Organic Pollutants Treatment in Wastewater Using Nanosecond Pulsed Non-Thermal Plasma
S. Kodama1, S. Matsumoto1, D. Wang2, T. Namihira2, and H. Akiyama2
1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Japan
2Institute of Pulse Power Science, Kumamoto University, Japan
Abstract
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are bioaccumulative and environmentally persistent substances. As POPs cannot be decomposed by conventional water treatments, a new treatment method is required. Several attempts to decompose organic compounds have been performed using various types of plasma reactors. Nano-second (ns) pulsed discharges enable higher energy efficiencies of plasma processing and have already demonstrated their advantages at such gas phase treatment processes as NOx treatment and ozone generation. However, few reports exist on water treatment using ns pulsed discharge plasmas. This study reports on efforts to decompose acetic acid solutions using ns pulsed discharge method by spraying solution into the gas phase plasma region; it also evaluates the influence of pH and gas flow rate on wastewater decomposition. The time course of pH and concentration of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in the solution is evaluated under several treatments.
Keywords - Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), nano-seconds pulsed discharge, acetic acid, water treatment