Removal of dilute benzene using a zeolite-hybrid plasma reactor

The decomposition of benzene was carried out using a plasma reactor packed with a mixture of BaTiO3 and zeolite pellets, the zeolite-hybrid reactor. The reactor performance was characterized by measuring COx formed during plasma discharge and COx adsorbed on the solid surface. The decomposition efficiency of benzene in the hybrid reactor was 1.4-2.1 x higher than that in a conventional plasma reactor packed with BaTiO3 alone. Benzene existing outside a zeolite crystalline pore was found to decompose more easily than that inside a zeolite pore. In addition, the presence of zeolites suppressed the formation of NOx.