Decomposition of organic compounds in water using mist pipe flow with dielectric barrier discharge

World has been faced with serious problems of water pollution. Recently, conventional chemical treatment has been replaced by a water treatment system using plasma. In this study, a method for decomposing organic compound by spraying solution directly as mist into reactive plasma was investigated using a newly developed mist-flow plasma reactor. The plasma reactor is a tube made of Teflon and has an inner mesh electrode and an outer grounded electrode. Non-thermal plasma is generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at the inner wall of a tube with the mist flow in the tube uniformly. An atomized solution containing micro-sized droplets was introduced into the plasma reactor and treated by ozone, free radicals and ultraviolet rays. The decomposition characteristics of this method were experimentally clarified through decolorization of methylene blue solution. The methylene blue solution is about 100 % decomposed for short time treatment. In addition, the acetic acid decomposition is verified by ion chromatography.