Plasma-assisted abatement of SF₆ in a packed bed plasma reactor: understanding the effect of gas composition

The potential impact of SF₆ as a potent greenhouse gas on the global climate is highly attractive. This paper studies the effect of H₂O concentration, SF₆ inlet concentration and pre-heating temperature on SF₆ abatement in a packed bed plasma reactor in terms of the removal efficiency and products selectivity. The results showed that the best performance in SF₆ abatement was obtained at 1% H₂O and 100 °C with 98.7% destruction and remove efficiency (DRE) at 2% SF₆. Higher energy yields was obtained under higher SF₆ inlet concentration. Moreover, the existence of water vapor weakened the micro-discharge and provided H and OH radicals for this system, which showed a close relationship to removal efficiency and products selectivity. Among four sulfur-containing products, SO₂F₂ was more stable than SOF₂, SOF₄ and SO₂. Meanwhile, SOF₄ and SO₂ were very susceptible to the above parameters. This article provides a better understanding of SF₆ abatement in a view of both scientific and engineering.