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Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge for the remediation of soil contaminated by organic pollutants
Aggelopoulos, C. A.
Abstract
The remediation of soil, contaminated by
organic pollutants, in a cylinder-to-plane dielectric barrier
discharge reactor at atmospheric air pressure was reported.
Two model organic pollutants were selected; a solid pollutant
(2,6-dichloropyridine) and a liquid pollutant (n-dodecane).
The effects of the contaminant’s initial
concentration and state, the energy consumption, and the
soil type on the pollutant removal efficiency were investigated.
To that scope, various contaminated samples of both
quartz sand and loamy sandy soil were treated by plasma
for various treatment times and initial 2,6-dichloropyridine/n-dodecane concentrations. The results revealed that (1) the
removal efficiency of 2,6-dichloropyridine was higher
compared to that of n-dodecane at a given plasma treatment
time and (2) the removal efficiency increased with the
energy density increasing, but decreased as the soil
heterogeneity, organic matter and pollutant concentration
were enhanced. The main removal mechanism proposed is
the evaporation of pollutant molecules coupled with their
oxidation by plasma species in the gas and solid/liquid
phase.
Keywords
Active species; Degradation efficiency; Non-thermal plasma; Pollutant oxidation; Soil remediation
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