Nitric oxide decomposition using atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge reactor with different adsorbents

Abstract

A cycled adsorption–desorption and decomposition process (ADD) for removing NO_x was designed and performed using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor filled with NaY zeolite or activated carbon as adsorbent at ambient temperature. Simulated flue gas was introduced into the DBD reactor for adsorption (T_a). Non-thermal plasma (NTP) was applied to detach and decompose the adsorbed NO for a specific period (T_d). Some key operating conditions (adsorbent materials, discharge power, T_d, and so on) were investigated to optimize the ADD process, and the effects of H₂O and O₂ were also studied. NO conversion, NO₂ formation, and energy efficiency of different NTP-assisting DeNO_x technologies were compared. The experimental results demonstrated that an NO removal rate of 99% was obtained on NaY zeolite at an energy efficiency of 99.4 g NO per kW h using the ADD process.