Decomposition of toluene in a gliding arc discharge plasma reactor

The decomposition of toluene in a gliding arc discharge (glidarc) was performed and studied. Experimental results indicate that the glidarc technology can effectively decompose toluene molecules and has bright prospects of being applied as an alternative tool to decompose volatile organic compounds. It is found that a change in the electrode material had an insignificant effect on the toluene removal efficiency. The toluene removal efficiency increases with increasing inlet gas temperature. The water vapor present in the gas mixture has a favorable effect on the toluene decomposition in the plasma. The energy efficiency is 29.46 g (kWh(-1)) at a relative humidity of 50% and a specific energy input of 0.26 kWh m(-3), which is higher than other types of non-thermal plasmas. Too much or too little oxygen content does not favor toluene decomposition. The major gas phase products detected by FT-IR from the decomposition of toluene with air participation were CO, CO2, H2O and NO2. Some brown depositions were found on the surface of the electrodes, which were polar oxygenous and nitrogenous compounds determined by the GC-MS analysis, such as benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, quinine and nitrophenol from the reaction of toluene with radicals. A possible mechanism for toluene destruction via glidarc technology is proposed and summarized.