Degradation of Dye Wastewater by ns-Pulse DBD Plasma

Two plasma reactors have been developed and used to degrade dye wastewater agents. The configuration of one plasma reactor is a comb-like extendable unit module consisting of 5 electrodes covered with a quartz tube and the other one is an array reactor which is extended from the unit module. The decomposition of wastewater by ns pulse dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma have been carried out by atomizing the dyeing solutions into the reactors. During experiments, the indigo carmine has been treated as the waste agent. The measurements of UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) are carried out to demonstrate the decomposition effect on the wastewater. It shows that the decoloration rate of 99% and the COD degradation rate of 65% are achieved with 15 min treatment in the unit reactor. The effect of electrical parameters on degradation has been studied in detail. Results from the array reactor indicate that it has a better degradation effect than the unit one. It can not only totally remove the chromogenic bond of the indigo carmine solution, but also effectively degrade unsaturated bonds. The decoloration rate reaches 99% after 10 min treatment, the decomposition rate of the unsaturated bond reaches 83% after 60 min treatment, and the COD degradation rate is nearly 74%.