Abstract
Sulfur dioxide, a noxious air pollutant, can cause health and environmental effects, and its emissions should be controlled. Nonthermal plasma is one of the most effective technologies in this area. This study evaluated the efficiency of a packed-bed plasma reactor (PBR) and in-plasma catalysis (IPC) in SO2 removal process which were finally optimized and modeled by the use of the central composite design (CCD) approach. In this study, SO2 was diluted in zero air, and the NiCeMgAl catalyst was selected as the catalyst part of the IPC. The effect of three main factors and their interaction were studied. ANOVA results revealed that the best models for SO2 removal efficiency and energy yielding were the reduced cubic models. According to the results, both PBR and IPC reactors were significantly energy efficient compared with the nonpacked plasma reactor and had high SO2 removal efficiency which was at least twice larger than that of the nonpacked one. Based on the results, the efficiency of IPC was better than in PBR, but its performance decreased over time. However, the PBR had relatively high SO2 removal efficiency and energy efficiency compared to the nonpacked reactor, and its performance remained constant over the studied time. In optimization, the maximum SO2 removal efficiency and energy efficiency were 80.69% and 1.04 gr/kWh, respectively (at 1250 ppm, 2.5 L/min, and 18 kV as the optimum condition) obtained by the IPC system which were 1.5 and 1.24 times greater than PBR, respectively. Finally, the model’s predictions showed good agreement with the experiments.
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Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the Tarbiat Modares University of Tehran. The authors are also grateful to Stat-Ease, Minneapolis, MN, USA, for the provision of the Design Expert package.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Investigation, Material preparation, Methodology, data collection, and analysis were performed by [ALI KHAVANIN], [HASAN ASILIAN], [NILOOFAR DAMYAR], [SEYYED MOHAMMAD MOUSAVI], and [HAMID GHOMI]. The research was managed and supervised by [ALI KHAVANIN], [AHMAD JONIDI JAFARI], [HASAN ASILIAN], and [RAMAZAN MIRZAEI]. The research was validated by [NILOOFAR DAMYAR] and [SEYYED MOHAMMAD MOUSAVI]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [NILOOFAR DAMYAR] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Highlights
• In this study, for the first time an optimization strategy for SO2 removal process using plasma reactors is reported through statistically designed experiments.
• This research evaluated the performance of packed-bed DBD plasma reactor (PBR) and in-plasma catalysis (IPC) hybrid system in SO2 removal process which were finally optimized and modeled using Central Composite Design (CCD) under Response Surface Methodology (RSM).
• In this study, SO2 was diluted in zero air, and the ceramic balls was used as packing materials in PBR, and also as bed support for NiCeMgAl catalyst in IPC system.
• The important parameters on “SO2 removal efficiency” and “energy efficiency” (SO2 concentration, flow rate, and voltage of power supply) were optimized using RSM.
• In optimization, the maximum “SO2 removal efficiency” and “energy efficiency” were 80.69% and 1.04 gr/kWh, respectively (at 1250 ppm, 2.5 L/min and 18 kV as the optimum condition) obtained by the IPC system which was 1.5 and 1.24 times greater than PBR, respectively.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
Fig. 8 One factor plots for the response of SO2 removal efficiency in PBR. The parts of a, b, and c indicate the effect of SO2 concentration, flow rate, and voltage (duty cycle) on SO2 removal efficiency, respectively. Fig. 9 One factor plots for the response of SO2 removal efficiency in IPC system. The parts of a, b, and c indicate the effect of SO2 concentration, flow rate, and voltage (duty cycle) on SO2 removal efficiency, respectively. The part d is the comparison between two studied reactors for this response. Fig. 10 One factor plots for the response of energy efficiency in PBR. The parts of a, b, and c indicate the effect of SO2 concentration, flow rate, and voltage (duty cycle) on energy efficiency, respectively. Fig. 11 One factor plots for the response of energy efficiency in IPC system. The parts of a, b, and c indicate the effect of SO2 concentration, flow rate, and voltage (duty cycle) on energy efficiency, respectively. The part d is the comparison between two studied reactors for this response (DOCX 679 kb)
ESM 2
Fig. 12 Lissajous curves for PBR (a) an IPC system (b); the numbers of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 correspond to duty cycles of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%, respectively (DOCX 223 kb)
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Damyar, N., Khavanin, A., Jafari, A.J. et al. Removal of sulfur dioxide from air using a packed-bed DBD plasma reactor (PBR) and in-plasma catalysis (IPC) hybrid system. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 42821–42836 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13173-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13173-5