Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) cause global and local impacts, resulting in environmental, health and economic adverse effects. Industrial and waste management activities are the main anthropogenic stationary sources of VOCs in the atmosphere. The traditional technologies for the treatment of VOC-contaminated air present several limitations when treating effluents with low VOC concentrations, high airflow rate and with compounds with low solubility in water. However, a novel technology, based on non-thermal plasmas (NTPs) and catalysis, has shown promising results in air purification. In this framework, after an initial overview on NTP-catalysis principles, this review presents and discusses 20 recent papers, with a three-fold purpose: evaluating the most recent applications of NTP and NTP-catalysis reactors to the treatment of air-VOC mixtures, analyzing all the parameters that may influence the abatement efficiency and the byproduct formation, and providing the reader with insights into the choice of the preferable configurations to use, based on the effluent type and the destination of the treated air. As a result of this review, NTPs may represent a promising option for indoor air treatment, especially because of the lower expected byproduct formation when treating low-concentrated VOC mixtures with relatively low air flow rates. If the target is the abatement of higher VOC concentrations, the higher energy efficiency obtainable in such conditions makes NTP-catalysis a cost-effective option for industrial applications. In addition, the formation of simpler and more soluble byproducts makes NTPs a suitable technology for air pre-treatment upstream of water-based removal technologies, such as absorption columns and biofilters.

Non-thermal plasma as an innovative option for the abatement of volatile organic compounds: A review

TORRETTA, VINCENZO;
2017-01-01

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) cause global and local impacts, resulting in environmental, health and economic adverse effects. Industrial and waste management activities are the main anthropogenic stationary sources of VOCs in the atmosphere. The traditional technologies for the treatment of VOC-contaminated air present several limitations when treating effluents with low VOC concentrations, high airflow rate and with compounds with low solubility in water. However, a novel technology, based on non-thermal plasmas (NTPs) and catalysis, has shown promising results in air purification. In this framework, after an initial overview on NTP-catalysis principles, this review presents and discusses 20 recent papers, with a three-fold purpose: evaluating the most recent applications of NTP and NTP-catalysis reactors to the treatment of air-VOC mixtures, analyzing all the parameters that may influence the abatement efficiency and the byproduct formation, and providing the reader with insights into the choice of the preferable configurations to use, based on the effluent type and the destination of the treated air. As a result of this review, NTPs may represent a promising option for indoor air treatment, especially because of the lower expected byproduct formation when treating low-concentrated VOC mixtures with relatively low air flow rates. If the target is the abatement of higher VOC concentrations, the higher energy efficiency obtainable in such conditions makes NTP-catalysis a cost-effective option for industrial applications. In addition, the formation of simpler and more soluble byproducts makes NTPs a suitable technology for air pre-treatment upstream of water-based removal technologies, such as absorption columns and biofilters.
2017
dielectric barrier discharge; corona discharge; catalysis; air pollution control; odor abatement
Schiavon, Marco; Torretta, Vincenzo; Casazza, Andrea; Ragazzi, Marco
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11383/2065460
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 68
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 62
social impact