Study on Decomposition of Indoor Air Contaminants by Pulsed Atmospheric Microplasma

Abstract

Decomposition of formaldehyde (HCHO) by a microplasma reactor in order to improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) was achieved. HCHO was removed from air using one pass through reactor treatment (5 L/min). From an initial concentration of HCHO of 0.7 ppm about 96% was removed in one pass treatment using a discharge power of 0.3 W provided by a high voltage amplifier and a Marx Generator with MOSFET switches as pulsed power supplies. Moreover microplasma driven by the Marx Generator did not generate NOx as detected by a chemiluminescence NOx analyzer. In the case of large volume treatment the removal ratio of HCHO (initial concentration: 0.5 ppm) after 60 minutes was 51% at 1.2 kV when using HV amplifier considering also a 41% natural decay ratio of HCHO. The removal ratio was 54% at 1.2 kV when a Marx Generator energized the electrodes with a 44% natural decay ratio after 60 minutes of treatment.

Applications of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Microplasma

“…Various active species, ozone (O 3 ), and ultraviolet light (UV) are generated by plasma discharge in air at atmospheric pressure [8,9]; thus chemical substances can be decomposed or bacteria sterilized [10,11]. One of the substances that are studied to be decomposed by microplasma is hexadecane (C 16 H 34 ) [32][33][34]. Hexadecane is a semivolatile organic compound (SVOC), and because it is present in diesel oil, it enters inside buildings from outside.…”

“…Microplasma electrode was used to remove the fine particles from the electrode surface due to the action of electrostatic forces. Microplasma [47] was already proved to be an economical and ecological solution in the case of biomedical applications [1,48], surface treatment [49], material synthesis [50], and indoor air treatment [33]. The removal or transfer of fine particles is important for global environmental problems such as PM 2.5, semiconductor industry dust contamination [16], or for the exploration activities on the moon [17,18].…”

Introduction to the Special Issue on “State-of-the-Art Sensor Technology in Japan 2012”

“…In order to use it onsite, they developed a portable taste sensor device with a lipid/polimer membrane with a size comparable with a USB memory stick. Shimizu et al [13] introduced a portable chemical decomposition system to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). They developed a portable microplasma reactor system to decompose formaldehyde indoors.…”

Microplasma actuator for active flow control: Experiment and simulation

“…It is known that electrohydrodynamic (EHD) phenomenon occurred through the momentum transfer from ions accelerated by electric field to neutral molecules by collision [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Our study was carried out to investigate a micro scale plasma actuator energized at 1.4 kV [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Some researchers have investigated that the flow direction could be changed by altering the amplitude of the applied voltage [19,20].…”