The photo-triggered discharge as an alternative device for NO-removal

Summary form only given. Compared to the performance reported in the literature for the filamentary discharges (pulsed corona or DBD), the photo-triggered reactor appears as an interesting alternative for flue gas treatment. This mature discharge technique, previously developed and optimized for high power laser pumping, allows to uniformly inject electrical energy in high pressure high flow rates gas mixtures. Recent experimental and modelisation studies (Rozoy et al., 1999) on NO-removal in dry air have shown that NO destruction efficiencies between 30 and 100% are achieved in only one shot with energetic costs in the range 15 to 50 eV per removed NO molecule, for input specific energy lower than 150 Joule/litre and without additives such as moisture, ammonia or hydrocarbons. Such performance compares well with the performance of the electron beam technique, with lower investment costs, The present work summarized and discussed results obtained on NO-removal using a 50 cm/sup 3/ active volume reactor. In this device, pre-ionization of the N/sub 2//O/sub 2//NO mixture is produced by UV emission from an auxiliary surface discharge located under the cathode of the main discharge, which allows handling simplicity and cost effectiveness.