A wastewater treatment system was established by means of pulsed dielectric barrier discharge（DBD）. The main advantage of this system is that the wastewater is employed as one of the electrodes for the degradation of rhodamine B, which makes use of the high conductivity and lessenes its negative influence on the discharge process. At the same time, the reactive species like ozone and ultraviolet（UV） light generated by the DBD can be utilized for the treatment of wastewater. The effects of some factors like conductivity, peak pulse voltage, discharge frequency and pH values were investigated. The results show that the combination of these reactive species could enhance the degradation of the dye while the ozone played the most important role in the process. The degradation efficiency was enhanced with the increase of energy supplied. The reduction in the concentration of rhodamine B was much more effective with high solution conductivity;under the highest conductivity condition, the degradation rate could rise to 99%.
The wastewater effluent from Radix aconiti processing, an important step in the production processes of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）, is a type of toxic wastewater and difficult to treat. Plasma oxidation methods have emerged as feasible techniques for effective decomposition of toxic organic pollutants. This study examined the performance of a plasma reactor operated in a dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） to degrade the effluent from R. aconiti processing. The effects of treatment time, discharge voltage, initial pH value and the feeding gas for the reactor on the degradation of this TCM wastewater were investigated. A bacterium bioluminescence assay was adopted in this study to test the toxicity of the TCM wastewater after non-thermal plasma treatment. The degradation ratio of the main toxic component was 87.77% after 60 min treatment with oxygen used as feed gas and it was 99.59% when the initial p H value was 8.0. High discharge voltage and alkaline solution environment were beneficial for improving the degradation ratio. The treatment process was found to be capable of reducing the toxicity of the wastewater to a low level or even render it non-toxic. These experimental results suggested that the DBD plasma method may be a competitive technology for primary decomposition of biologically undegradable toxic organic pollutants in TCM wastewater.
Yiyong WenJianping YiShen ZhaoSong JiangYuming ChiKefu Liu
Electric discharge in water can generate a large number of oxidants such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. In this paper, a non-thermal plasma processing system was established by means of pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in gas-liquid phase. The electrodes of discharge reactor were staggered. The yield of H2O2 was enhanced after discharge. The effects of discharge time, discharge voltage, frequency, initial pH value, and feed gas were investigated. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide and ozone was measured after discharge. The experimental results were fully analyzed. The chemical reaction equations in water were given as much as possible. At last, the water containing Rhodamine B was tested in this system. The degradation rate came to 94.22% in 30 min.
