Power consumption and byproducts in electron beam and electrical discharge processing of volatile organic compounds

Among the new methods being investigated for the post-process reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in atmospheric-pressure air streams are based on non-thermal plasmas. Electron beam, pulsed corona and dielectric-barrier discharge methods are among the more extensively investigated techniques for producing non-thermal plasmas. In order to apply non-thermal plasmas in an industrial scale, it is important to establish the electrical power requirements and byproducts of the process. In this paper the authors present experimental results using a compact electron beam reactor, a pulsed corona and a dielectric-barrier discharge reactor. They have used these reactors to study the removal of a wide variety of VOCs. The effects of background gas composition and gas temperature on the decomposition chemistry have been studied. They present a description of the reactions that control the efficiency of the plasma process. They have found that pulsed corona and other types of electrical discharge reactors are most suitable only for processes requiring O radicals. For VOCs requiring copious amounts of electrons, ions, N atoms or OH radicals, the use of electron beam reactors is generally the best way of minimizing the electrical power consumption. Electron beam processing is remarkably more effective for all of the VOCs tested. For control of VOC emissions from dilute, large volume sources such as paint spray booths, cost analysis shows that the electron beam method is cost-competitive to thermal and catalytic methods that employ heat recovery or hybrid techniques

Basic energy efficiency of plasma production in electrical discharge and electron beam reactors

Non-thermal plasma processing is an emerging technology for the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}) in atmospheric pressure gas streams. Either electrical discharge of electron beam methods can produce these plasmas. This paper presents a comparative assessment of various non-thermal plasma reactors. The goal of our project is two-fold: (1) to understand the feasibility and scalability of various non-thermal plasma reactors by focusing on the energy efficiency of the electron and chemical kinetics, and (2) to optimize process parameters and provide performance and economic data. Experimental results using a compact electron beam reactor, pulsed corona reactor and dielectric-barrier discharge will be presented. These reactors have been used to study the removal of NO{sub x} and a wide variety of VOCs. The effects of background gas decomposition and gas temperature on the decomposition chemistry have been studied. The decomposition mechanisms are discussed to illustrate how the chemistry could strongly affect the economics of the process. An analysis of the electron kinetics show that electrical discharge reactors are the most suitable only for processes requiring O radicals. For pollution control applications requiring copious amounts of electrons, ions, N atoms or OH radicals, the sue of electron beam reactors is generally the best way of minimizing the electrical power consumption

Classical Scattering for a driven inverted Gaussian potential in terms of the chaotic invariant set

We study the classical electron scattering from a driven inverted Gaussian potential, an open system, in terms of its chaotic invariant set. This chaotic invariant set is described by a ternary horseshoe construction on an appropriate Poincare surface of section. We find the development parameters that describe the hyperbolic component of the chaotic invariant set. In addition, we show that the hierarchical structure of the fractal set of singularities of the scattering functions is the same as the structure of the chaotic invariant set. Finally, we construct a symbolic encoding of the hierarchical structure of the set of singularities of the scattering functions and use concepts from the thermodynamical formalism to obtain one of the measures of chaos of the fractal set of singularities, the topological entropy.Comment: accepted in Phy. Rev.

Genome-Wide Association Study in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers Identifies Novel Loci Associated with Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

BRCA1-associated breast and ovarian cancer risks can be modified by common genetic variants. To identify further cancer risk-modifying loci, we performed a multi-stage GWAS of 11,705 BRCA1 carriers (of whom 5,920 were diagnosed with breast and 1,839 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer), with a further replication in an additional sample of 2,646 BRCA1 carriers. We identified a novel breast cancer risk modifier locus at 1q32 for BRCA1 carriers (rs2290854, P = 2.7×10-8, HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.20). In addition, we identified two novel ovarian cancer risk modifier loci: 17q21.31 (rs17631303, P = 1.4×10-8, HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38) and 4q32.3 (rs4691139, P = 3.4×10-8, HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38). The 4q32.3 locus was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the general population or BRCA2 carriers, suggesting a BRCA1-specific associat

Energy and particle flow in low temperature plasmas

Increased interest in the development of high density plasma sources for ultra large scale integrated circuit manufacturing with varying geometry and power coupling strategies require the development of 2D models for accurate plasma reactor studies. An objective of their research was to develop a computationally efficient numerical code that would be useful as a design tool for inductively coupled plasma reactors. To achieve that goal the authors created a 2D fluid model (INDUCT2D) of an argon discharge. As uniformity is a primary issue in wafer manufacturing they have used INDUCT2D to investigate the effect of pressure and reactor geometry on the spatial uniformity of the etching ion flux. They have found that the optimum pressure for maximum uniformity depends upon the spatial profile of the inductive heating, and decreases with the reactor aspect ratio

Atomic and molecular physics of plasma-based environmental technologies for abatement of volatile organic compounds

Non-thermal plasma techniques represent a new generation of air emission control technology that potentially could treat large-volume emissions containing dilute concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In order to apply non-thermal plasmas in an industrial scale, it is important to establish the electrical power requirements and byproducts of the process. There is a need for reliable data concerning the primary decomposition mechanisms and subsequent chemical kinetics associated with non-thermal processing of VOCs. There are many basic atomic and molecular physics issues that are essential in evaluating the economic performance of non- thermal plasma reactors. These studies are important in understanding how the input electrical power is dissipated in the plasma and how efficiently it is converted to the production of the plasma species (radicals, ions, or electrons) responsible for the decomposition of the VOCs. This paper will present results from the basic experimental and theoretical studies aimed at identifying the reaction mechanisms responsible for the primary decomposition of various types of VOCs