Nonthermal plasma chemical processing of mixed VOCs

The reaction behavior of dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂)-toluene was investigated with a ferroelectric packed-bed reactor. The decomposition efficiencies of 109 ppm CH₂Cl₂ and 100 ppm toluene were not affected by mixing in the presence of O₂. In the decomposition of CH₂Cl₂-toluene, CO₂ selectivity increased with the O₂ content. The higher the CO_x yield, the lower the CO₂ selectivity. In N₂, organic chlorides and cyanides were detected as byproducts from CH₂Cl₂ and toluene. However, no mixing effect was observed in byproduct formation. On the other hand, the number and quantities of the byproducts decreased as O₂ content in the background gas increased. In the presence of O₂, no oxygen-containing byproducts were newly detected.