Paracetamol degradation in aqueous solution by non-thermal plasma

Abstract

Abstract. This study deals with paracetamol degradation in water using a non-thermal plasma (NTP) created by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). The effects of the NTP operating conditions on the degradation were studied, showing that the treatment efficiency of the process was highly dependent on the electrical parameters and working gas composition in the reactor containing the aqueous solution. A conversion rate higher than 99% was reached with an energy yield of 12 g/kWh. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) measurements showed that the main species produced in water during the process were nitrogen compounds, carboxylic acids and aromatic compounds.

Paracetamol Degradation by Catalyst Enhanced Non-Thermal Plasma Process for a Drastic Increase in the Mineralization Rate

“…They obtained a complete degradation and mineralization of paracetamol within 15 min using pure O 2 as working gas. However, their best energy yield of 0.59 g (kWh) −1 was much lower than that of 12 g (kWh) −1 obtained in our previous work [13].…”

“…To demonstrate the decisive role of Plasma-Catalysis coupling in obtaining a good mineralization rate, plasma treatment experiments were conducted with and without coupling to a catalyst for comparison. The experiments were performed under similar conditions to those in our previous work [13]. The treatment was performed with an applied square alternative High Voltage (HV) of ±5.9 kV in amplitude and 500 Hz in frequency.…”

“…Non-thermal Plasmas (NTPs) have been tested to treat various organic compounds and drug residues in water and appear to be a relevant AOP technique [10][11][12][13]. They have been used in various ways and the efficiencies (conversion, energy yield) were found to depend on the reactor configuration, the nature and concentration of the target molecules, and the water matrix (distilled, pure, or tap waters).…”

“…Among the papers in the literature on the treatment of pharmaceutical molecules in water using NTPs, only a few articles concern the degradation of Paracetamol molecules [11,[13][14][15]. Panorel et al [11] used a Pulsed Corona Discharge to oxidize paracetamol and to achieve complete degradation in a short time period with an energy yield in the range of 20-70 g (kWh) −1 depending on the power and working gas.…”

“…Even with a high power, in the range of 200 to 850 W, the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal was only about 20% when the paracetamol conversion reached 100%. Baloul et al [13] used a multiple needle-to-plate Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) reactor for the treatment of paracetamol in aqueous medium with only 0.3 W injected power. In the case of O 2 -Ar as injected gas, the conversion rate reached about 100% with an energy yield of around 5 g (kWh) −1 .…”