Destruction of PCDD/Fs by gliding arc discharges

Degradation of contaminants in plasma technology: An overview

The information of plasma technologies applications for environmental clean-up on treating and degrading metals, metalloids, dyes, biomass, antibiotics, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bacteria, virus and fungi is compiled and organized in the review article. Different reactor configurations of plasma technology have been applied for reactive species generation, responsible for the pollutants removal, hydrogen and methane production and microorganism inactivation. Therefore, in this review article, the reactive species from discharge plasma are presented here to provide the insight into the environmental applications. The combinations of plasma technology with flux agent and photocatalytic are also given in this review paper associated with the setup of the plasma system on the removal process of metals, VOCs, and microorganisms. Furthermore, the potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) inactivation via plasma technology is also described in this review paper. Detailed information of plasma parameter configuration is given to support the influence of the critical process in the plasma system to deal with contaminants.

Thermal desorption for remediation of contaminated soil: A review

Soil pollution has become a global environmental concern. Thermal desorption is one of the methods commonly used to remediate contaminated soil. This method has received increasing attention for remediating contaminated sites due to its advantages, such as suitability to different types of contaminants, short treatment period, high efficiency, high safety, and capability to recycle soil and contaminants. This paper provides a comprehensive review of studies on thermal desorption. Introduction of the mechanism, classification, and cost of thermal desorption is presented. Factors affecting the performance of thermal desorption (heating temperature, heating time, heating rate, carrier gas, soil particle size, moisture content, initial concentration of contaminants, and additives) are reviewed. Thermal desorption produces off-gases, which are mostly organic compounds and may result in secondary pollution. Thus far, treatment methods for off-gas have not been systematically investigated. This paper also summarizes current methods for treatment of off-gas in the soil field and of volatile organic compounds in atmospheric and water pollution fields. Several feasible off-gas treatment methods are also comparatively analyzed, and the corresponding principles, advantages, disadvantages, and application ranges are discussed.

The pyrolytic-plasma method and the device for the utilization of hazardous waste containing organic compounds

This paper is focused on the new method of waste processing. The waste, including hazardous waste, contain organic compounds. The method consists in two main processes: the pyrolysis of waste and the oxidation of the pyrolytic gas with a use of non-equilibrium plasma. The practical implementation of the method requires the design, construction and testing of the new device in large laboratory scale. The experiments were carried out for the two kinds of waste: polyethylene as a model waste and the electronic waste as a real waste. The process of polyethylene decomposition showed that the operation of the device is correct because 99.74% of carbon moles contained in the PE samples was detected in the gas after the process. Thus, the PE samples practically were pyrolyzed completely to hydrocarbons, which were completely oxidized in the plasma reactor. It turned out that the device is useful for decomposition of the electronic waste. The conditions in the plasma reactor during the oxidation process of the pyrolysis products did not promote the formation of PCDD/Fs despite the presence of the oxidizing conditions. An important parameter determining the efficiency of the oxidation of the pyrolysis products is gas temperature in the plasma reactor.

Removal of gaseous HxCBz by gliding arc plasma in combination with a catalyst

Hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) owns the chemical structure of one benzene ring and six H atoms substituted by Cl atoms and it is a persistent organic pollutant present in flue gas from municipal solid waste incineration as an important precursor of dioxins. Its removal was studied using gliding arc plasma treatment, coupled downstream with a V2O5–WO3–TiO2 catalyst. Several parameters (input voltage, O2 concentration, catalytic temperature and catalyst position) all influenced its removal efficiency (RE). Optimal parameter settings were tentatively determined, i.e., an input voltage of 15 kV, the temperature of the catalyst (250 °C), and the O2 concentration (30 vol% O2) tested at a single, fixed concentration of gaseous HxCBz (71.6 ng Nm−3). A maximum RE of 76 ± 3% HxCBz was attained, with the plasma and coupled catalyst combined. Two destruction pathways, incorporating dechlorination and oxidation reactions, were recognised, both based on the detection of end- and intermediate products as well as of active species produced by the plasma. These end- and intermediate products included: low chlorinated polychlorobenzenes (mainly 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene) as well as hydrocarbons (mainly C2H6), HCOOH, CH4, CO, CO2, etc.

Quantum chemistry study on the destruction mechanism of 2,3,7,8-TCDD by OH and O(3) radicals

Due to its fundamental importance, the destruction mechanism of the dioxins, as exemplified by 2,3,7,8-TCDD, by OH and O3 radicals was investigated in detail employing Quantum Chemical Calculations in this paper. Theoretical results showed that, OH radical degraded 2,3,7,8-TCDD via substituting chlorine at the 2,3,7,8 positions, while O3 radical degraded 2,3,7,8-TCDD via destructing CC bonds and aromatic ring. Based on the mechanism study, the kinetic parameters of the reactions were also calculated by Transition State Theory. By comparing, the rate constant of the 2,3,7,8-TCDD destruction by OH was found to be much higher than that by O3, which indicated that OH radical have much stronger ability to degrade 2,3,7,8-TCDD than O3 radical. This finding was consistent with the standard electrode potential of OH and O3 radical. The theoretical results in this paper can be believed to supply important theory basis for the further investigation on dioxins removal by using the catalytic oxidation technology.