Destruction of chemical warfare surrogates using a portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Today’s reality is connected with mitigation of threats from the new chemical and biological warfare agents. A novel investigation of cold plasmas in contact with liquids presented in this paper demonstrated that the chemically reactive environment produced by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is potentially capable of rapid destruction of chemical warfare agents in a broad spectrum. The decontamination of three different chemical warfare agent surrogates dissolved in liquid is investigated by using an easily transportable APPJ. The jet is powered by a kHz signal source connected to a low-voltage DC source and with He as working gas. The detailed investigation of electrical properties is performed for various plasmas at different distances from the sample. The measurements of plasma properties in situ are supported by the optical spectrometry measurements, whereas the high performance liquid chromatography measurements before and after the treatment of aqueous solutions of Malathion, Fenitrothion and Dimethyl Methylphosphonate. These solutions are used to evaluate destruction and its efficiency for specific neural agent simulants. The particular removal rates are found to be from 56% up to 96% during 10 min treatment. The data obtained provide basis to evaluate APPJ’s efficiency at different operating conditions. The presented results are promising and could be improved with different operating conditions and optimization of the decontamination process

VUV SOURCE FROM PULSED-LASER GENERATED PLASMA

We describe a pulsed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) source consisting of a plasma created by focusing a NdYAG laser beam into rare gases under moderate pressure, and we report on spectral and time properties of that source. Main features are : continuum emission in a large spectral range, with only few lines superimposed, good time characteristics of the pulses, stability, cleanliness, and relatively high repetition rate (20 Hz)

Dispositif à deux faisceaux pour études d'absorption de gaz coniiensés dans la région 2 000 Å-500 Å

A double beam monochromator for optical absorption studies of condensed gases down to 500 Å is described. The source is a triggered vacuum spark and the sample is deposited on to a cooled fluorescent substrate. The electronic detection device is described in detail. The performance of the instrument is illustrated by two examples.On décrit un dispositif à deux faisceaux pour études d'absorption optique jusqu'à 500 Å de gaz condensés. La source est une étincelle initiée sous vide et l'échantillon est déposé sur un substrat fluorescent. Le fonctionnement de l'électronique de détection est décrit en détail. Les performances de l'instrument sont illustrées par deux exemples

TWO-PHOTON EXCITATION AND DECAY IN XENON

The kinetics associated with the decay of the first excited states of xenon has been studied in two complementary experiments : - two-photon excitation of the 6p[K]j atomic levels,- one photon excitation by VUV light from laser generated plasma [1]

ETATS ÉLECTRONIQUES EXCITÉS DE NO PIÉGÉ EN MATRICE A BASSE TEMPÉRATURE

Pas de Résumé disponibl

MESURE DES COEFFICIENTS D'ABSORPTION DE DIVERS GAZ MOLÉCULAIRES DANS L'ULTRAVIOLET EXTRÊME (400-100 Å). ANALYSE DES COURBES DE PHOTOIONISATION DANS LE DOMAINE DES ÉNERGIES NOTABLEMENT SUPÉRIEURES A CELLE DU SEUIL

Après une brève description du dispositif expérimental, on donne les courbes d'absorption pour O2, CO, N2, NO, CO2, N2O, H2O, NH3, CH4, CH3OH, C2H5OH, C3H7OH entre 400 et 100 Å (250-1 000 kK). Pour ces énergies de photons les processus de photoionisation simple semblent prépondérants et l'absorption moléculaire suit des lois très voisines de celles applicables dans le domaine des rayons X.After a short description of the experimental set-up, the authors give the absorption curves of O2, CO, N2, NO, CO2, N2O, H2O, NH3, CH4, CH3OH, C2H5OH, C3H7OH between 400 and 100 Å (250-1 000 kK). At these photon energies, the photoionization processes seem prevailing and the molecular absorption follows a law very similar to that for the X-ray region