Abstract:

This paper deals with the degradation of toluene gas by the photocatalysis coupled with dielectric barrier discharge （DBD）. It investigates the effect of the photocatalyst TiO₂ driven by the DBD on the conversion rate of toluene at variable energy density, gas flow, discharge time and inner electrode diameter. The results show that （ 1 ） photocatalyst TiO₂ improves the conversion rate of toluene and the selectivity of the products ; （2） when the energy density increases to 1000J/L, the conversion rate of toluene increases to 88.0% and the CO₂ productivity to 39% ; （3） with the increase of gas flow, the conversion rate of toluene decreases; （4） the conversion rate of toluene increases rapidly in the first 5 minutes of discharge, then remains constant 10rain later; （5） the conversion rate of toluene at first increases and then decreases with the increase of inner electrode diameter; and （6） there is an optimal diameter （0. 80 mm） of inner electrode for toluene degradation because the carbon balance remains constant at a certain inner electrode diameter.

Key words: toluene, degradation, volatile organic compound, dielectric barrier discharge, photocatalysis, titania