Aerosol emission and collection in styrene-contaminated air remediation with a multi-stage plasma system

• A multi-stage plasma system is developed for styrene-contaminated air remediation.
• The use of DC (+) ESP is more favorable to aerosol collection and styrene removal.
• The collection of ultrafine aerosols is improved by using a bi-polar charging reactor.
• Aerosol charge number has a great influence on the aerosol collection.

A multi-stage plasma reactor is developed for the remediation of styrene-contaminated air and the removal of plasma-generated aerosols. The plasma aerosol is fully positively charged and has a unimodal-like size distribution. More than 90% of the plasma aerosols are produced from styrene-related reaction processes. The use of an electrostatic precipitator not only leads to aerosol collection but also enhances styrene removal. Notably, below the onset corona voltage, an aerosol collection of up to 36% is observed. We also find that the collection of ultrafine aerosols (diameters < 100 nm) can be improved by using a bi-polar charging reactor.

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