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Real diesel engine exhaust emission control: indirect non-thermal plasma and comparison to direct plasma for NOX, THC, CO, and CO2

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Abstract

Recently, diesel engine exhaust emission control by non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology has been shown to be promising. However, carbon and soot deposition on the inner surface of the NTP reactor for direct plasma processing decreased the efficiency of the plasma process throughout the experiments. In the present work, the feasibility of indirect plasma processing was investigated as an innovative and novel method compared to direct plasma processing. Air was directed through an NTP at an applied voltage of VP-P = 7 kV and a flow rate of 1–4 L/min, and then, it was combined with engine exhaust gas at a flow rate of 5 L/min. In this case, the maximum conversion of NOX was 64.9% at 4 L/min. However, for direct plasma processing at 5 L/min, NO conversion was 58%, which proves that the indirect NTP process can decrease NOX concentration effectively. The maximum conversion for unburned hydrocarbon (UHC), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) was obtained as 2%, 4% and 0.7% at 4, 2 and 3 L/min in indirect plasma processing; While their remove rate for direct plasma processing was 16.3%, −0.5% and 13.2%, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laser and Plasma Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran, 1983963113, Iran

    Mohammad Reza Khani, Ehsan Barzideh Pour, Babak Shokri & Ali Khadem

  2. Department of Mechanics of Biosystem Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Saeid Rashnoo & Barat Ghobadian

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GJ, UK

    Xin Tu

  4. Department of Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran, 1983963113, Iran

    Babak Shokri

  5. Faculty of Physics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, 3619995161, Iran

    Seyed Iman Hosseini

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  1. Mohammad Reza Khani
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Correspondence to Mohammad Reza Khani.

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Khani, M.R., Barzideh Pour, E., Rashnoo, S. et al. Real diesel engine exhaust emission control: indirect non-thermal plasma and comparison to direct plasma for NOX, THC, CO, and CO2. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 18, 743–754 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00500-0

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