Removal of Model Pollutants in Aqueous Solution by Gliding Arc Discharge. Part II: Modeling and Simulation Study.

The aim of this work is the modeling of plasma-chemical reactions taking place between highly oxidizing gaseous species (OH, NO and derivatives), generated by Gliding Arc Discharge in Humid Air (GAD-HA), and organic pollutants in aqueous solution. Theses pollutants were chosen on the base of their volatility at atmospheric and ambient conditions: 1-Heptanol (highly volatile), phenol (moderately volatile) and para-chlorobenzoic acid, pCBA (poorly volatile). The mass transfer model of diffusion-convection was coupled to a proposed kinetic model in order to describe the phenomenology of the electrical process. The mass transfer model was obtained independently by stripping toluene and phenol molecules. The simplified kinetic model was proposed with the main reactions in gas and liquid phases mentioned in the literature. The only adjustable parameter of the model was the OH concentration in the plasma plume. For a concentration of OH of 24 ppm in the plasma plume, the model gives results in agreement with experimental results for the three model pollutants tested. The coupling of the experimental results and the simulation study allowed us to: (1) confirm that the main removal mechanism is different according to the nature of the pollutant and depends on the pollutant properties (reactivity, volatility), (2) calculate [OH], [ONOOH] and [NO]. The results of this work can be used to assist experiences in the plasma engineering field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]