Plasma Based Water Purifier: Design And Testing of Prototype with Different Samples of Water

Abstract

The objective of the prototype is to eliminate the polluting contamination of water sources, due to the leak of industrial waste without any kind of treatment, mainly generated by the industries and home sector. In this project, a prototype of water purification by plasma technology has been designed. The prototype will convert contaminated water into the plasma stream and eliminate the pathogens from the water by exposing it to ultraviolet radiation and plasma sterilisation. The polluted water will be accelerated at high speed using a water pump in order to convert it into a liquid-gas mixture for ease plasma generation. This process will be achieved when the electric supply from a source of alternating current (AC) is applied to the water by means of high voltage electrodes. After which, the mixture slows down to return into liquid form and the clean water is obtained. The whole process takes place without significantly raising the temperature also knows as non-thermal plasma. The device also has an automatic flow and pressure control system. Finally, a short feasibility study has been conducted on the water samples collected and report obtained from Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage boards are reported. It has been concluded that this new plasma-based water treatment system will be more efficient and cheaper than the current wastewater treatment techniques and can be used in the future as the replacement of current secondary and tertiary treatments of industrial wastewater.

Recent Progress in Applications of Non-Thermal Plasma for Water Purification, Bio-Sterilization, and Decontamination

“…The reactive species produced by plasma jets, such as O, H 2 O 2 , OH radicals, NO, and NO 2 , offer strong sterilization of Escherichia coli and thereby contribute to water purification [80]. Even a low amount of H 2 O 2 can be used as a strong oxidizing agent for pathogen sterilization.…”

“…The concentrations of these main reactive species, such as those of NO 2 and H 2 O 2 , are proportional to the length of the plasma jet because a larger interface between the water and plasma jet enables more reactions for oxidizing agent production. In 2018, Suraj et al [80] designed a water purifier based on plasma technology. They showed that the optimized gas flow rate was 4 L/min based on the concentrations of NO 2 , NO, and H 2 O 2 generated.…”