Effect of Gas Temperature on Pulsed Corona Discharge Processing of Acetone, Benzene and Ethylene

Abstract

Experiments on the plasma-assisted oxidation of dilute concentrations of acetone, benzene, and ethylene in atmospheric pressure gas streams by pulsed corona electrical discharge processing show that temperature influences the oxidation chemistry. In dry air mixtures, the main oxidation products are CO and CO₂, which account for most if not all of the oxidized acetone and benzene. Plasma-assisted oxidation of ethylene is less complete since the measured CO and CO₂ amounts do not account for the decrease in ethylene. The energy efficiency for plasma-assisted oxidation of ethylene is also less temperature dependent than that for either acetone or benzene. These trends correlate with the temperature dependence in the rate constant expressions for reactions of these molecules with O atoms.