Deposition of oxygenated hydrocarbons in a packed-bed plasma reactor during the oxidation of toluene: influence of applied voltage

Packed-bed plasma reactors (PBPRs) have been investigated extensively to study the abatement of volatile organic compounds such as toluene. Previous studies have reported that the applied voltage (or power) is a critical parameter that affects the performance of PBPRs. However, the origin of this change in performance is not well understood. A conventional PBPR contains irregularly filled dielectric pellets that generate several micro- and mesoscopic voids in between the pellets and between pellets and dielectric walls where filamentary discharges are generated. These voids are optically inaccessible and the reaction products are often generated in gaseous form; therefore, the location of the chemical reactions within these voids could not be studied. In this work, we have qualitatively investigated the influence of the applied voltage on the locations of chemical reactions in the void using toluene oxidation as an example. Using a single layer of regularly arranged hemispherical pellets and a transparent electrode in a PBPR, the plasma generation within these voids became optically accessible. The operating conditions were tailored to enhance the deposition of solid or liquid products on the glass beads to understand the locations of chemical reactions. The intensified charged coupled device camera images of the discharge through the transparent electrode show that the distribution of plasma emission changes with the applied voltage amplitude. The distribution of the deposited/condensed solid/liquid intermediates and reaction products was found to match the plasma emission. The analysis of the reaction products and deposition/condensation locations indicates that short-living species such as energetic electrons, OH and O radicals might play an essential role in the formation of deposited chemicals on the glass beads.