Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Application for Pollution Control in Industrial Processes

Economic application of atmospheric pressure plasma technology for industrial pollution control requires fulfilling two propositions: First application of pollution control technologies needs to result in clear environmental, health, or safety benefits motivating political measures. Second plasma technology needs to be competitive as compared to other available pollution control technologies. Thus in this article methods for the evaluation of atmospheric plasma application for industrial pollution control are reviewed: Examples of emission regulations and emission control technologies are given. Requirements of industrial scale emission control and of thermal and non‐thermal exhaust gas treatment technologies are described. The potential of various non‐thermal plasma reactor concepts for cost effective treatment of industrial scale gas flows is analyzed, and methods for the evaluation of plasma energy balance and plasma chemical kinetics are given for them. How to deal with shortcomings of atmospheric pressure plasmas such as lack of plasma‐chemical selectivity is addressed in a section about plasma‐catalytic hybrid processes. Further the progress made recently in electrostatic precipitation is reviewed, and the importance of electro‐hydrodynamic effects for the reactor design both for electrostatic precipitation and for plasma chemical pollution control is considered. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Monolithic electrochemically promoted reactors: A step for the practical utilization of electrochemical promotion

A novel dismantlable monolithic-type electrochemically promoted catalytic reactor and “smart” sensor-catalytic reactor unit has been constructed and tested for hydrocarbon oxidation and NO reduction by C₂H₄ in the presence of O₂. In this novel reactor, thin (∼ 40 nm) porous catalyst films made of two different materials are sputter-deposited on opposing surfaces of thin (0.25 mm) parallel solid electrolyte plates supported in the grooves of a ceramic monolithic holder and serve as sensor or electropromoted catalyst elements. The catalyst dispersion was higher than 10%. A 22 flat plate reactor operated with apparent Faradaic efficiency up to 100, at near complete reactants conversion, at gas flow rates up to 30 l/min. The novel design has only two external electrical connections and thus significantly facilitates the practical utilization of electrochemical promotion of catalysis.     

Oscillations, period doublings, and chaos in CO oxidation and catalytic mufflers

Early experimental observations of chaotic behavior arising via the period-doubling route for the CO catalytic oxidation both on Pt(110) and Ptgamma-Al(2)O(3) porous catalyst were reported more than 15 years ago. Recently, a detailed kinetic reaction scheme including over 20 reaction steps was proposed for the catalytic CO oxidation, NO(x) reduction, and hydrocarbon oxidation taking place in a three-way catalyst (TWC) converter, the most common reactor for detoxification of automobile exhaust gases. This reactor is typically operated with periodic variation of inlet oxygen concentration. For an unforced lumped model, we report results of the stoichiometric network analysis of a CO reaction subnetwork determining feedback loops, which cause the oscillations within certain regions of parameters in bifurcation diagrams constructed by numerical continuation techniques. For a forced system, numerical simulations of the CO oxidation reveal the existence of a period-doubling route to chaos. The dependence of the rotation number on the amplitude and period of forcing shows a typical bifurcation structure of Arnold tongues ordered according to Farey sequences, and positive Lyapunov exponents for sufficiently large forcing amplitudes indicate the presence of chaotic dynamics. Multiple periodic and aperiodic time courses of outlet concentrations were also found in simulations using the lumped model with the full TWC kinetics. Numerical solutions of the distributed model in two geometric coordinates with the CO oxidation subnetwork consisting of several tens of nonlinear partial differential equations show oscillations of the outlet reactor concentrations and, in the presence of forcing, multiple periodic and aperiodic oscillations. Spatiotemporal concentration patterns illustrate the complexity of processes within the reactor.     

Polycapillary‐optics‐based micro‐XANES and micro‐EXAFS at a third‐generation bending‐magnet beamline

A focusing system based on a polycapillary half‐lens optic has been successfully tested for transmission and fluorescence µ‐X‐ray absorption spectroscopy at a third‐generation bending‐magnet beamline equipped with a non‐fixed‐exit Si(111) monochromator. The vertical positional variations of the X‐ray beam owing to the use of a non‐fixed‐exit monochromator were shown to pose only a limited problem by using the polycapillary optic. The expected height variation for an EXAFS scan around the Fe K‐edge is approximately 200 µm on the lens input side and this was reduced to ～1 µm for the focused beam. Beam sizes (FWHM) of 12–16 µm, transmission efficiencies of 25–45% and intensity gain factors, compared with the non‐focused beam, of about 2000 were obtained in the 7–14 keV energy range for an incoming beam of 0.5 × 2 mm (vertical × horizontal). As a practical application, an As K‐edge µ‐XANES study of cucumber root and hypocotyl was performed to determine the As oxidation state in the different plant parts and to identify a possible metabolic conversion by the plant.     

HCl与NO对汞氧化反应影响的实验研究

本文介绍了汞污染实验研究系统的搭建及调试工作,并且利用小型固定床实验台,进行了HCl和NO氧化元素汞的均相实验,研究了HCl与NO浓度,以及温度等因素对汞的氧化过程的影响。结果表明,随HCl的浓度增高,其对汞的氧化性增强,且HCl和汞之间的气相反应过程与温度有密切关系;不存在HCl时,NO对汞没有明显的氧化作用;NO和HCl同时通入时,汞的氧化率均高于HCl单独作用时的效果,而在不同温度和气氛下,NO的促进作用存在差异。在实验基础上,本文提出了汞均相反应可能的反应路径。     

Dissipative ion acoustic solitary waves in collisional,magneto‐rotating,non‐thermal electron–positron–ion plasma

The linear and non‐linear dynamics of ion acoustic waves are investigated in three‐component magnetized plasma consisting of cold inertial ions and non‐thermal electrons and positrons. The non‐thermal components are modelled by the hybrid distribution, representing the combination of two (kappa and Cairn's) non‐thermal distributions. The relevant processes, including the slow rotation of plasma along the magnetic field axis and collision between ions and neutrals, are taken into consideration. It is shown that the non‐linear dynamics of the considered system are governed by the Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation in modified form. In the general dissipation regime, the effects of the two non‐thermal distributions on the solitary waves are compared. The effects of other plasma parameters, such as collisional and rotational frequency, are also discussed in detail.     

Interplay effect on simultaneous catalytic oxidation of NOx and toluene over different crystal types of MnO2 catalysts

This paper firstly investigated the interplay effect on simultaneous catalytic oxidation of NO and toluene. Four tunnel-structure polymorphs, i.e., α-MnO₂, β-MnO₂, γ-MnO₂ and δ-MnO₂, were synthesized to compare individual and simultaneous oxidation of NO and toluene. Results demonstrated that toluene significantly inhibited NO conversion that near zero efficiencies were observed at low temperature over the four catalysts. Subsequently, NO oxidation efficiency climbed rapidly to the equivalent value as absence of toluene. In addition, presence of NO also elevated toluene conversion into higher temperature of 10–20 °C than that without NO. The reaction between toluene and oxygen took the superiority during simultaneous oxidation with NO. NO oxidation efficiency started to increase until toluene degradation approaching to the equilibrium. However, this competition seemed to be negligible at high temperature that both toluene and NO attained high conversion efficiencies. These findings provide a feasible way for simultaneous removal of NO_x and VOCs using catalytic oxidation as well as selecting an optimal temperature window.     

A general analytical method for evaluation of the thermodynamic properties of matters using virial coefficients with Morse potential at high temperature

In this paper, we established an analytical formula for the second virial coefficient (SVC) with Morse potential without using any numerical methods, and the obtained formula is applied to the calculation of the speed of sound of some matter at high temperature. This approach is based on the series expansion formula and special functions, which allows the exact evaluations of any thermodynamic properties of matter using the SVC. As an application, the obtained analytical formula is used for evaluation of the SVC with Morse potential for high‐temperature gas and the plasma region of the intermolecular interactions of neutral atom gases of B, Si, Zn, H₂, N₂, O₂, NO, CO, He, Ne, Ar, Kr , and Xe . Based on the obtained formula of SVC, the speed of sound for gases of N₂, Ar , and Zn are also determined analytically. A specific maximum temperature is chosen for every gas to ensure that there are still neutral atoms in the gas, and low temperatures are avoided due to quantum effects. The results are compared with numerical data and another analytical data from the literature. The new analytical solution is shown to be in good agreement with the compared data and is verified to supply proper thermodynamic data.     

Influence of gas flow rate and reactor length on NO removal usingpulsed power

A short duration of 100-ns pulsed power has been used to remove nitric oxide (NO) in a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and NO, simulating flue gases from a power station. The effects of the gas flow rate, the reactor length, and the pulse repetition rate on the percentage of NO removal and its energy efficiency are reported. The percentage of NO removal at a fixed gas flow rate increased with increasing pulse repetition rate due to the increased energy into the discharge. At a fixed pulse rate, the removal of NO increased with decreasing gas flow rate due to the increased residence time of the gas in the discharge reactor, thus facilitating the creation of increased radicals of O and N which then decreased NO. The energy removal efficiency of NO (in mol/kWh) decreased with increasing gas flow rate and increasing removal ratio of NO. The removal of NO increased with increasing energy density (J/I), input into the discharge at different reactor length     

NO对燃煤烟气中汞形态分布影响的实验研究

在小型实验台上研究了NO对汞形态的影响。结果表明:在不含HC1气体的模拟烟气中,加入NO后转化率明显增加;较高浓度的NO会引起汞转化率下降但仍高于无NO的体系;随反应温度的升高汞的转化率逐渐降低;SO2的存在引起汞转化率升高。在含HC1的模拟烟气中,随反应温度的升高汞的转化率升高;SO2的存在引起汞转化率下降;NO的存在会提高汞的转化率。在一般烟气体系中, HC1可以促进汞的氧化;较高的O2浓度也可以促进汞的氧化。     

Dissipative ion‐acoustic waves in collisional electron‐positron‐ion plasmas with Kappa distribution

In this work, linear and non‐linear structures of ion‐acoustic waves (IAWs) are investigated in a collisional plasma consisting of warm ions, superthermal electrons, and positrons. A dissipative effect is assumed due to ion‐neutral collisions. The linear properties of IAWs are investigated. It is shown that the dynamics of the IAWs is governed by the damped Korteweg‐de Vries (K‐dV) equation. It is seen that the ion‐neutral collisions modify the basic features of ion‐acoustic solitary waves significantly. Also, the effect of the plasma parameters on the dissipative IAWs is discussed in detail.     

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Intense Short Gaussian Laser Pulses in Weakly Relativistic Magnetized Plasma

The weakly relativistic regime of propagation of a short and intense laser pulse in the magnetized plasma is investigated. By considering relativistic nonlinearity and using non‐linear Schrödinger equation with paraxial approximation, two second‐order coupled differential equations are obtained for the longitudinal pulse width parameter (in time) and for the transverse pulse width parameter (in space). The simultaneous evolution of spot size and length of a relativistic Gaussian laser pulse in a magnetized plasma can be calculated by the numerical solution of the equations. The effect of magnetic field is investigated. It is observed that in the presence of magnetic field both the self‐compression and the self‐focusing can be enhanced. Furthermore, the interplay between the longitudinal self‐compression and the transverse self‐focusing in a magnetized plasma is investigated. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Characterisation of a Simple Non‐Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Source for Biomedical Research Applications

The recent progress in plasma medicine as well as biomedical aspects of plasma physics over the last years have enhanced the need for experimental plasma devices which are capable of producing non‐thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas. These plasma sources are used for studying the effect of non‐thermal plasmas on biological samples of different nature. In this paper we present such an easy to build low cost apparatus that can be used for scientific as well as for educational purposes. Directions for the construction of the device are given and the basic plasma parameters are investigated. The characterisation of the experiment was done by electrical diagnostics for the measurements of the plasma potential in combination with optical emission spectroscopy. The latter is used for the determination of the excitation temperature of the plasma and the electron density. Furthermore the influence of the produced plasma on yeast cells is demonstrated. The produced plasma is characterised in different ways and it was found that the feeding gas has also a considerable impact on the radio frequency wave form of the source. It is also demonstrated that the constructed plasma source is capable of producing non‐thermal plasma that hinder cell growth of yeast colonies on a agar substrate. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The (3+1)‐dimensional dust‐acoustic waves in multi‐components magneto‐plasmas

A three‐dimensional four components magneto‐plasma system consists of super‐thermal κ‐distributed electrons and positrons, Maxwellian ions, and inertial massive negatively charged dust grains is considered to examine the modulational instability (MI) of the dust‐acoustic waves (DAWs), which propagates in such a magneto‐plasma system. The reductive perturbation method, which is valid for small but finite amplitude DAWs, is employed to derive the (3 + 1)‐dimensional non‐linear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). The NLSE leads to the MI of DAWs as well as the formation of dust‐acoustic rogue waves (DARWs) which are formed due to the effects of non‐linearity in the propagation of the DAWs. It is found that the basic features (viz. amplitude and width) of the DAWs and DARWs (which is formed in the unstable region) are significantly modified by the various plasma parameters such as κ‐distributed electrons and positrons, temperatures, and number densities of plasma species, and so on. The application of the results in both space and laboratory magneto‐plasma systems is briefly discussed.     

过渡金属卤化物改性非碳基吸附剂脱汞研究

以6种大比表面积非碳基成分为载体,经过渡金属卤化物改性处理后制成汞吸附剂,并对其不同烟气气氛和温度下的汞吸附性能及汞氧化率进行了研究。CuCl_2改性氧化铝在各种烟气条件下均表现出较好的汞吸附性能。FeCl_3改性沸石的汞脱除率相对略低,但它制作成本较低。这两种非碳基吸附剂在未来有较好的应用前景。改性吸附剂的最适宜反应温度100～200℃。     

Non‐linear interaction of a q‐Gaussian laser beam in a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the propagation characteristics of a q‐Gaussian laser beam propagating through a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique. The ignitor beam creates the plasma by tunnel‐ionization of air. The heater beam heats the plasma electrons and establishes a parabolic channel. The third beam (q‐Gaussian beam) is guided in the plasma channel under the combined effects of density non‐uniformity and non‐uniform ohmic heating of the plasma channel. Numerical solutions of the non‐linear Schrodinger wave equation (NSWE) for the fields of laser beams are obtained with the help of the moment theory approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the dynamical variations of the spot size of the laser beams and the longitudinal phase shift of the guided beam with the distance of propagation.     

Online Copper Removal for Selenium Determination by Hydride Generation–Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

Selenium determination in samples with a high copper content by hydride generation–inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (HG‐ICP‐OES) after online copper removal and selenium (VI) reduction is described. An activated carbon minicolumn was used for the retention of copper and its subsequent separation of Se. Se(VI) was then online reduced by heating into a PTFE coiled reactor with 12 M HCl. The analyte was introduced into a water stream containing sodium tetrahydroborate (NaBH₄) in order to generate selenium hydride (H₂Se). The detection limit (DL) obtained was 0.8 µg L^?1, and the precision, expressed by the relative standard deviation (RSD), was 2.5% (n=10; 10 µg L^?1 selenium level). The current method was applied to the Se determination in two copper reference materials, MBH‐39DK 3601 (with a Se content of 90 mg kg^?1) and MBH‐39 DK 3604 (with a Se content of 15 mg kg^?1).     

Dust Self‐Organized Structures I. Role of Ion Drag and Ion Diffusion on Screened Grains

Self‐organized dust structures are investigated using a Gurevich‐Parker model for non‐linear dust screening. The non‐linear dust drag coefficients and non‐linear diffusion coefficients are calculated numerically as functions of nonlinear parameter for screening, dust density and ion flux drift velocity. Nonlinear ion dust drag inside the structures creates an electric field with potential well for ions at the structure center. The equilibrium dust structures confine both the dust grains and the plasma particles, have a finite size and have inside an enhanced dust and ion densities. The necessary conditions for existence of equilibrium dust structures are found. The equilibrium dust structures are determined by two global parameters related to the external plasma flux and to the power of ionization. The equilibrium exist only in a restricted phase space of these two parameters and depends on the the drag coefficient at the structure center. The equilibrium requirements are found using non‐linear drag coefficient calculated numerically. It is shown that this phase space area can be broad but it is systematically decreasing with an increase of the ionization rate. It is found that equilibrium exists for dust structures with large dust and ion density concentration at the center and that for these structures the ion diffusion is strongly suppressed by ion scattering on non‐linearly screened grains. The results of the theory can be used to interpret the recently observed compact dust structures in micro‐gravity experiments and can provide some recommendations for future micro‐gravity experiments in spherical chambers (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Similarity rules for collisionless hot‐filament discharges

The plasma parameters of a collisionless hot‐filament discharge are investigated theoretically and experimentally as functions of a dimensionless variable called the discharge efficiency, which is a product of several relevant external parameters. It is found that the main plasma parameters, as measured in plasma chambers that are either geometrically different or filled with different working gases, depend on this variable in approximately the same way. Consequently, the number of experimental data necessary for discharge characterization may be drastically reduced.     

Ion‐ and positron‐acoustic solitons in magnetized dusty plasma with q‐non‐extensive electron and positron velocity distribution

In this study, the properties of ion‐ and positron‐acoustic solitons are investigated in a magnetized multi‐component plasma system consisting of warm fluid ions, warm fluid positrons, q‐non‐extensive distributed positrons, q‐non‐extensive distributed electrons, and immobile dust particles. To drive the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation, the reductive perturbation method is used. The effects of the ratio of the density of positrons to ions, the temperature of the positrons, and ions to electrons, the non‐extensivity parameters q_e and q_p , and the angle of the propagation of the wave with the magnetic field on the potential of ion‐ and positron‐acoustic solitons are also studied. The present investigation is applicable to solitons in fusion plasmas in the edge of tokamak.