Atmospheric-Pressure Radio-Frequency Discharge for Degradation of Vinyl Chloride With Pt/Al2O3 Catalyst

This study investigates the application of a radio-frequency-powered plasma with a Pt/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst to decompose the chlorinated volatile organic compound of vinyl chloride (VC) in air. The use of an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet is explored as an innovative technology for the treatment of VC. The effects of some major system parameters such as input power (P-WI), plasma energy density, initial concentration of VC (C-0), and space velocity (SV) of the catalyst on the plateau temperature (T-P) of a reactor and conversions of VC (X-VC) are studied and elucidated. The results show that the effectiveness of the plasma-assisted catalysis is evident as indicated by the increase of X-VC and the rate constant. At a P-WI of 250 W without a catalyst, the values of X-VC were 14% and 5.4% for C-0 = 200 and 450 ppmv, respectively. In the presence of the Pt/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst with an SV of 17400 h(-1), the values of X-VC for C-0 = 200 and 450 ppmv increased to 49% and 39%, respectively. Note that the values of T-P were 550 K and 430 K without and with the Pt/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst at an SV of 17400 h(-1) and a P-WI of 250 W. The proposed kinetic models describe the relationships of C/C-0 with the major parameters for the plasma and plasma-assisted catalytic degradation of VC, showing good agreement with the experimental data. The information obtained is useful for the operation, design, and analysis of plasma devices.