Catalytic nonthermal plasma reactor for the abatement of low concentrations of isopropanol

Oxidative decomposition of a model volatile organic compound (isopropanol, IP) has been carried out in a catalytic dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor, where modified sintered metal fiber (SMF) filter was used as the inner electrode. The SMF was modified with Mn and Co oxides by impregnation, followed by calcination and the performance of the DBD reactor was tested for the oxidation of IP in the specific input energy range 160–720 J/l by varying the high voltage and frequency. It has been observed that SMF modification by MnOx and CoOx not only improved the conversion of isopropanol, but also increased the selectivity towards total oxidation. MnOx modification showed better performance than CoOx, which may be attributed to the formation of atomic oxygen by in situ decomposition of ozone. It has been demonstrated that with MnOx/SMF it is possible to completely oxidize 100 ppm of isopropanol at SIE < 200 J/l.