Plasma chemical reaction for nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide removal in corona discharge reactor

Application of plasma chemistry for gas cleaning is gaining prominence in recent years, mainly from the energy consideration point of view. Normally, the gas treatment is carried out at or above room temperature by the conventional dry-type corona reactor. However, this treatment is still inadequate for the removal of certain stable gases present in the flue gas mixture. In this work, a wet-type corona reactor is presented that can simultaneously remove NO and SO₂ at low temperatures and at atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show both removal rate of NO and SO₂ are improved in wet-type reactor than that of dry-type reactor. NO is mostly oxidized into NO₂ by the reaction with O and O₃ and NO₂ is change into HNO₃ by the reaction with OH, which is generated from H₂O. Most of the SO₂ removal is attributed to the absorption into the water film and the enhancement by the discharge plasma is small.