Design of a DBD wire-cylinder reactor for NOx emission control: experimental and modelling approach

The objective of this work was to develop a wire-cylinder dielectric barrier discharge reactor for NOx removal from a gas mixture simulating exhaust gases. NO conversion was investigated as a function of parameters such as high voltage (HV) electrode material, dielectric material, NO concentration and reactor gap. A complete decomposition path is proposed from 18O2 isotope experiments. Finally, a model consisting of ‘Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors’ (CSTR) cascade with multiple injections of atomic oxygen is proposed in order to explain the relationships between the reactor parameters (inlet flow, inlet NO concentration, electrical energy density and electrical gap) and the experimental results (outlet NOx concentration). Optimization of the model parameters permitted the authors to fit experimental and calculated results with a maximum absolute error of about 5% on NO conversion.