Toluene removal characteristics by a superimposed wire-plate dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor

A superimposed wire-plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor was use d to remove toluene in this study. The effects of oxygen content, gas flow rate, gas initial concentration and with/without catalyst on toluene decomposition we re investigated. It was found that an optimal toluene removal was achieved when the oxygen content was about 5%. Under this condition, the highest toluene remov al efficiency of 80.8% was achieved when the gas concentration was 80 mg/m3. The toluene removal efficiency decreased with the increase of the gas flow rate and the initial concentration of toluene. In addition, the ozone concentration decr eased with the increase of the initial concentration of toluene. It suggested th at combining DBD(dielectric barrier discharge) with Co3O4/Al2O3/foam nickel cata lyst in-situ could improve the toluene removal efficiency and suppress ozone for mation. Products analysis showed that the main products were CO and CO2 when oxy gen was more than 5%.