Non-equilibrium plasma of pulsed corona discharge for the purpose of air purification from typical ventilation exhausts of polymer production

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a study of the impact of pulsed corona discharge plasma on air containing volatile products of polymer pyrolysis. The following materials were chosen as objects of study: rubber, polypropylene and ABS plastic. Polymeric materials were subjected to pyrolysis at a temperature of 550–650 °C. Analysis of the products was carried out by GC/MS method. These are aliphatic and aromatic unsaturated compounds of various structures, including monomers. Components with increased volatility (b.p. < 160 °C) can pollute the air, so they were studied in detail. For the research, a pulsed corona discharge was used with the following parameters: pulse duration 40 ns, pulse repetition rate 10 Hz, voltage 100 kV, current – up to 100 A. The relative reactivity of the components was estimated using the method of competing reactions. It is shown that the method more effectively removes unsaturated and saturated aliphatic compounds whereas aromatic compounds eliminate less effectively. It is shown that high reactivity of unsaturated compounds is due to their interaction with ozone. The found dependencies will be useful in the development of new energy-efficient air purification technologies for the tasks of primary and secondary processing of plastics.