Pulsed microwave discharge at atmospheric pressure for NO_<i>x</i>decomposition

Abstract

A 3.0 GHz pulsed microwave source operated at atmospheric pressure with a pulse power of 1.4 MW, a maximum repetition rate of 40 Hz, and a pulse length of 3.5 µs is experimentally studied with respect to the ability to remove NOx from synthetic exhaust gases. Experiments in gas mixtures containing N2/O2/NO with typically 500 ppm NO are carried out. The discharge is embedded in a high-Q microwave resonator, which provides a reliable plasma ignition. Vortex flow is applied to the exhaust gas to improve gas treatment. Concentration measurements by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirm an NOx reduction of more than 90% in the case of N2/NO mixtures. The admixture of oxygen lowers the reductive potential of the reactor, but NOx reduction can still be observed up to 9% O2 concentration. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering technique is applied to measure the vibrational and rotational temperature of N2. Gas temperatures of about 400 K are found, whilst the vibrational temperature is 3000-3500 K in pure N2. The vibrational temperature drops to 1500 K when O2 and/or NO are present. The randomly distributed relative frequency of occurrence of selected breakdown field intensities is measured by a calibrated, short linear-antenna. The breakdown field strength in pure N2 amounts to 2.2×106 V m-1, a value that is reproducible within 2%. In the case of O2 and/or NO admixture, the frequency distribution of the breakdown field strength scatters more and extends over a range from 3 to 8×106 V m-1.