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Non-thermal plasma based decomposition of volatile organic compounds in industrial exhaust gases

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Abstract

The decomposition of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs), namely butyl acetate, styrene, and methanol, by means of non-thermal plasma technology was investigated in different industrial exhaust gases. Although a great deal of effort on the investigation of these VOCs can be found in literature, data regarding the application in real exhaust gases are missing and provided in this contribution. Measurements were performed in an oil shale processing plant in Estonia and in a yacht hall production site in Poland. Up to 71 % of butyl acetate at a specific input energy (SIE) of about 220 J/L and more than 74 % of styrene and methanol at SIE > 300 J/L were decomposed. The energy efficiency of the decomposition processes was analyzed as well as the products formed by the plasma process. Energy constants of k E < 9.85 L/kJ for butyl acetate and k E < 2.75 L/kJ for styrene and methanol were obtained. Most of the VOCs were partly oxidized to carbon monoxide and, to lesser extent, totally oxidized to carbon dioxide.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr. Wolfgang Reich and Mr. Alexander Schwock for their support on this work. The work was partly supported by the European Regional Development Fund, Baltic Sea Region programme 2007–2013 (project No 033, “Dissemination and Fostering of Plasma-Based Technological Innovation for Environment Protection in The Baltic Sea Region,” PlasTEP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz-Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 2, 17489, Greifswald, Germany

    M. Schmidt & R. Brandenburg

  2. Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Ravila 14c, 50411, Tartu, Estonia

    I. Jõgi

  3. West Pomeranian University of Technology, al. Piastów 17, 70-310, Szczecin, Poland

    M. Hołub

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  1. M. Schmidt
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  2. I. Jõgi
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Correspondence to M. Schmidt.

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Schmidt, M., Jõgi, I., Hołub, M. et al. Non-thermal plasma based decomposition of volatile organic compounds in industrial exhaust gases. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 12, 3745–3754 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-015-0814-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-015-0814-1

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