Removal of VOCs Using Nonthermal Plasma Technology

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are liquids or solids that contain organic carbon (carbon bonded to carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, or sulfur, but not carbonate carbon as in CaCO3 nor carbide carbon as in CaC2 or CO2), which vaporize at significant rates. VOCs are probably the second-most widespread and diverse class of emissions after particulates. VOCs are a large family of compounds. Some (e.g., benzene) are toxic and carcinogenic, and are regulated individually as hazardous pollutants. The control of VOCs in the atmosphere is a major environmental problem now. Toluene and benzene are two of the typical VOCs. They effluents in some industries, such as paints, paint thinners, fingernail polish, lacquers, adhesives, rubber, and some printing and leather tanning processes, have attracted more and more attention of researchers. The traditional methods of VOCs removal such as absorption, adsorption, and incineration and so on, which are referred to the new environmental condition have many technical and economic disadvantages. In these years, some new technologies, such as biologic process, photo-catalysis process, and plasma technology, were paid more and more attention. As an emerging technology for environmental protection, there have been extensive researches on using non-thermal plasma (NTP) over the past 20 years. The major advantages of NTP technology include the moderate operation conditions (normal temperature and atmospheric pressure), moderate capital cost, compact system, easy operations and short residence times, Etc., compare to the conventional technologies). In the field of air pollution control, the NTP technology has been tested for the abatement of various types of hazardous air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), SO2, NOx, CFCs, odors, mercury, etc. In this chapter, we will introduce a new synergy technology basing on non-thermal plasma for VOCs decomposition.