Oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury in a high voltage discharge reactor.

Effects of the voltage waveform, discharge tooth wheel number and CO2/NO/SO2 concentration in the simulated flue gas on Hgo oxidation were investigated using a link tooth wheel-cylinder reactor energized by different high voltage power supplies. Negative DC discharge induced more ozone production and a higher Hg0 oxidation efficiency than positive DC discharge and 12 kHz AC discharge. The discharge tooth wheel number had almost no effect on the maximum Hg0 oxidation efficiency. The allowable supplied voltage decreased with the increase of discharge tooth wheel number. CO2 could stabilize the discharge process and increase the maximum voltage for a stable discharge. It has also been found that NO consumed O3 induced by high voltage discharge, thereby decreased Hg0 oxidation efficiency; while SO2 had a slight promoting effect on Hg0 oxidation.

Surfactant-enhanced PEG-4000-NZVI for remediating trichloroethylene-contaminated soil.

In this study a NZVI was prepared by the liquid phase reduction method. The modified NZVI obtained was characterized by BET, TEM and XRD. The results showed that the iron in the PEG-4000 modified material is mainly zero-valent iron with a stable crystal structure. It has a uniform particle size, ranging from 20 to 80 nm, and a larger specific surface area than CTAB modified NZVI, SDS modified NZVI and commercial zero-valent iron. The two surfactants CTAB and SDS are also selected as solubilizers, the results showed that the two selected surfactants obviously solubilize trichloroethylene in soil. Compared with commercial zero-valent iron, PEG-4000 modified NZVI is better removed trichloroethylene from soil; Also, the optimal operational parameters were obtained. When the experimental conditions were: PEG-4000 modified NZVI dosage 1.0 g/L, CTAB/SDS concentration equal to the CMC, SDS concentration was 2.0 × CMC, CTAB was concentration 1.0 × CMC and the vibration speed 150 r/min, the removal efficiency of trichloroethylene in a soil-water system reached 100% after 4 h. Both NZVI combined with CTAB and NZVI combined with SDS followed fitted first order reaction kinetics during the removal of trichloroethylene and their reaction rate constant k was 0.6869 mg/(L·h) and 0.5659 mg/(L·h), respectively. According to the chloride ion detection test, the trichloroethylene degradation is mainly due to reductive dechlorination.

Conversion of carbon disulfide in air by non-thermal plasma.

Carbon disulfide (CS2), a typical odorous organic sulfur compound, has adverse effects on human health and is a potential threat to the environment. In the present study, CS2 conversion in air by non-thermal plasma (NTP) was systematically investigated using a link tooth wheel-cylinder plasma reactor energized by a DC power supply. The results show that corona discharge is effective in removing CS2. The CS2 conversion increases with the increase of specific input energy (SIE). Both short-living (e.g. O, OH radicals) and long-living species contribute to the CS2 conversion, but the short-living species play a more important role. Both gaseous and solid products are formed during the conversion of CS2. Gaseous products mainly include CO, CO2, OCS, SO2, SO3 and H2SO4. The yields of CO and CO2 increase, the yields of OCS and SO2 follow bell curves while the sum yield of SO3 and H2SO4 remains constant as SIE increases. The solid products, consisting of CO3(2-), SO4(2-) and possible polymeric sulfur, deposit on the inner wall and electrodes of the plasma reactor.

Degradation of phenol in mists by a non-thermal plasma reactor.

A link tooth wheel-cylinder non-thermal plasma reactor was set up to investigate the degradation of phenol in the mists. In addition, the decomposition efficiency of phenol, TOC removal, and byproduct formation were investigated. The stable discharge was achieved in both air and the mist condition. The decomposition efficiency and TOC removal increased with increasing the input power. For the input power of 3.6 W, the phenol decomposition and TOC removal reached 90% and 47%, respectively. Phenol degradation byproducts were identified as small molecular organic acids, including formic acid, acetic acid, and oxalic acid. Their masses in the trapped solutions first increased and then decreased slightly with increasing the input power. Therefore, the biodegradation capacity of the phenol degradation byproducts can be improved.

Effects of humidity on the plasma-catalytic removal of low-concentration BTX in air.

Effects of relative humidity (30%, 50% and 80% RH) on the removal of low-concentration benzene, toluene and p-xylene (BTX mixture) in air by non-thermal plasma (NTP) and the combination of NTP and MnO(x)/Al(2)O(3) catalyst (CPC) were systematically investigated in a link tooth wheel-cylinder plasma reactor. A long-term (150 h) CPC experiment under 30% RH was also conducted to investigate the stability of the catalyst. Results show that increasing humidity inhibits the O(3) production in plasma and its decomposition over the catalyst. As for BTX conversion, increasing humidity suppresses the benzene conversion by both NTP and CPC; although higher humidity slightly promotes the toluene conversion by NTP, it negatively influences that by CPC; while the conversion of p-xylene by both NTP and CPC is insensitive to the humidity levels. Irrespective of the RH, the introduction of MnO(x)/Al(2)O(3) catalyst significantly promotes BTX conversion and improves the energy efficiency. On the other hand, CPC under 30% RH shows the best performance towards CO(x) formation during BTX oxidation processes. However, for a specific input energy of 10 J L(-1) in this study, organic intermediates generated and accumulated over the catalyst surface, resulting in a slight deactivation of the MnO(x)/Al(2)O(3) catalyst after 150-h reactions.

[Effects of gas compositions on the oxidation of gas phase elementary mercury by non-thermal plasma].

The effects of flue gas compositions such as NO, SO2, CO, H2O on elementary mercury oxidation by non-thermal plasma induced by positive streamer discharge were experimentally investigated by using a link tooth wheel-cylinder reactor. The results showed that the oxidation of elementary mercury decreased in the presence of CO2 and NO, which was attributed to the reduction of number of the active radicals reacted with elementary mercury. Adding 670 mg/m3 NO, only 37% elementary mercury was oxidized when the voltage was 9.5 kV. And CO was produced because of the reaction between CO2 and active radicals. The presence of SO2 resulted in an increase of elementary mercury oxidation, and white HgSO4 and Hg2SO4 were formed, little elementary mercury was detected at the outlet of the reactor when the voltage was 10 kV. Similarly, H2O and HCI promoted the oxidation of elementary mercury, which may be due to the formation of oxidative *OH and the presence of Cl- ions. The total mercury concentration dramatically decreased after the discharge reactor because the charging mercury was collected.

[Experiment study on carriers in moving bed biofilm reactor].

Two methods of mixture modified and corona discharge were used to modify hydrophilic performance of the surface of the carriers. By mixture modified, the contact angle reduced from 108 degrees to 88 degrees, which showed carriers were hydrophilic; corona discharge could strengthen the effect and contact angle could reduce to 72 degrees further, although the effect lasted short time. To compare two carriers modified by corona discharge or not, evaluation system for biological quality of carries were established from two aspects: monitor indexes and monitor methods. Experiment lasted for 20 days. The results showed that the reactor filled with the former started up more quickly. On the 2nd day, removal rate of COD and NH4(+) -N was 80% and 97%, respectively; while removal rate of the reactor filled with the latter only reached 61% and 63%, respectively. But soon, the removal rate of the both pollutants was nearly the same. It confirmed that the modified effect by corona discharge lasted short time, and indicated this evaluation system was fast, feasible and reliable.