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Microbubble-enhanced DBD plasma reactor: Design, characterisation and modelling

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journal contribution
posted on 2019-02-05, 11:49 authored by Alexander R.P. Wright, Matteo Taglioli, Faraz Montazersadgh, Alex Shaw, Felipe IzaFelipe Iza, Hemaka BandulasenaHemaka Bandulasena
The emerging field of atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs) for treatment of various solutions and suspensions has led to a variety of plasma reactors and power sources. This article reports on the design, characterisation and modelling of a novel plasma-microbubble reactor that forms a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at the gas-liquid interface to facilitate the transfer of short-lived highly reactive species from the gas plasma into the liquid phase. The use of microbubbles enabled efficient dispersion of long-lived reactive species in the liquid and UVC-induced oxidation reactions are triggered by the plasma radiation at the gas-liquid interface. A numerical model was developed to understand the dynamics of the reactor, and the model was validated using experimental measurements. Fluid velocities in the riser region of the reactor were found to be an order of magnitude higher for smaller bubbles (~500 µm diameter) than for larger bubbles (~2500 µm diameter); hence provided well-mixed conditions for treatment. In addition to other reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), 2 a dissolved ozone concentration of 3 µM was recoded after a 15-minute operation of the reactor, demonstrating the suitability of this design for various applications.

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge grants POC-HD_RD0300 C from Plants to Products network of BBSRC NIBB and BB/L013819/1.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Published in

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

Volume

144

Pages

159-173

Citation

WRIGHT, A.R.P. ... et al., 2019. Microbubble-enhanced DBD plasma reactor: Design, characterisation and modelling. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 144, pp.159-173.

Publisher

Elsevier © Institution of Chemical Engineers

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2019-01-31

Publication date

2019-02-08

Copyright date

2019

ISSN

1744-3563

Language

  • en

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